Digital Alaska News

3531 bookmarks
Custom sorting
Former Oath Keeper Felt He Needed To Be Willing To Conquer Or Die On Jan. 6
Former Oath Keeper Felt He Needed To Be Willing To Conquer Or Die On Jan. 6
Former Oath Keeper Felt He Needed To Be Willing To ‘Conquer Or Die’ On Jan. 6 https://digitalalaskanews.com/former-oath-keeper-felt-he-needed-to-be-willing-to-conquer-or-die-on-jan-6/ Jason Dolan, a former member of the extremist group the Oath Keepers, testified Tuesday that he was prepared to take up arms to keep former President Donald Trump in office as members of a far-right mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Dolan, a 20-year veteran of the Marine Corps, pleaded guilty to one federal count of conspiracy and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding in September. He agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors and testified Tuesday as part of an ongoing seditious conspiracy trial of five members of the Oath Keepers. The group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes, is among those on trial. “I was watching a lot of videos about the election. At the time I felt like the election had been stolen,” Dolan, 46, testified, according to NBC News. He joined the Oath Keepers, a far-right group largely made up of retired military members and law enforcement. “It felt like within the group I was with … that there was a core group that would be willing to fight,” he testified later, adding he felt he needed to be willing to “conquer or die” and “take up arms and fight back” to defend Trump’s presidency. Part of that plan included members of the group stashing weapons in hotel rooms in nearby Virginia in preparation for any conflict between those defending Trump or then-President-elect Joe Biden, Dolan testified. “That’s why we brought our firearms,” he said. Supporters of former President Donald Trump breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. (Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press via Getty Images) Supporters of former President Donald Trump breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. (Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press via Getty Images) Dolan added he took firearms to Washington, D.C., in the days before the Jan. 6 attack. Prosecutors displayed two weapons, a rifle Dolan built and a pistol. “I have to be mentally prepared for however far I’m willing to go to stand for America, for the Constitution, for the President & for the survival of our ideals,” he wrote in a chat on Signal before the insurrection, per Law & Crime. “[I]f I’m lucky I get a prison sentence, tagged with treason, or a bullet from the very people I would protect. Yet I swore to defend this country against all enemies foreign & domestic.” His testimony was the first time a cooperating witness shared an account of being in the pro-Trump mob and the first time a jury heard evidence the Oath Keepers directly sought to disrupt the certification of the Electoral College results on Jan. 6. Dolan’s federal sentencing guidelines range between five and seven years, although he could receive some leniency as part of his plea deal with the government. Prosecutors have recently laid out the case against Rhodes and his subordinates. On Monday, they said Rhodes and other Oath Keepers went on a cross-country spree buying up to $20,000 in weapons in the days before the Jan. 6 attack. They haven’t yet said what Rhodes did with the weaponry, but his creation of an armed “quick reaction force” in the lead-up to the insurrection has become a central point in prosecutors’ seditious conspiracy case. Attorneys for Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers have argued the quick reaction group was meant to be used if Trump invoked the Insurrection Act, but not as an offensive force at the Capitol. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Related… ‘How Dare You’: Mike Lee Confronted Over Jan. 6 Scheme In Senate Debate Liberal Group: Democrats Should Go Beyond Abortion To Beat ‘MAGA Republicans’ Colorado GOP Senate Nominee Says Trump Shouldn’t Run In 2024 Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Former Oath Keeper Felt He Needed To Be Willing To Conquer Or Die On Jan. 6
Wheres The Beef?: Special Master Says Trumps Mar-A-Lago Records Claims Lack Substance
Wheres The Beef?: Special Master Says Trumps Mar-A-Lago Records Claims Lack Substance
‘Where’s The Beef?’: Special Master Says Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Records Claims Lack Substance https://digitalalaskanews.com/wheres-the-beef-special-master-says-trumps-mar-a-lago-records-claims-lack-substance/ Donald Trump’s assertions of executive and attorney-client privilege over certain documents that the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort appeared to lack evidence sufficient for him to rule in the former US president’s favor, the special master reviewing the records suggested on Tuesday. The special master, senior US district court judge Raymond Dearie, complained during a conference call in the case that the log of documents Trump is trying to withhold from the justice department did not give enough information about the validity of the privilege claims. Dearie encouraged Trump’s lawyers to elaborate on why they believed the documents could be excluded from the justice department’s criminal investigation into the potential willful retention of national defense information, removal of government records and obstruction of justice. “It’s a little perplexing as I go through the log,” Dearie said. “What’s the expression – ‘Where’s the beef?’ I need some beef.” The discussion on the conference call was the latest development in the ongoing review that is examining whether any of the 11,000 documents without classified markings seized from Mar-a-Lago are legally privileged and cannot be used by prosecutors in the criminal investigation. Trump sought the appointment of a special master and argued to US district court judge Aileen Cannon in Florida – a Trump appointee – that the justice department should not itself decide whether some of the documents were potentially protected by executive or attorney-client privilege. The request was granted in an unprecedented ruling – partly because of Trump’s status as a former president, Cannon said – that also prevented federal investigators from examining both the 11,000 documents and an additional 103 documents bearing classified markings. That prompted the justice department to seek to reverse elements of Cannon’s ruling in order to regain access to the 103 documents, which the US court of appeals for the 11th circuit granted and the US supreme court last week upheld over Trump’s objections. The conference call touched only on privilege disagreements concerning a small subset of the seized materials that remains, for now, in the special master’s purview. The justice department has since appealed the appointment of the special master in its entirety. The dispute could foreshadow what could be a messy argument between Trump’s lawyers seeking to limit what documents can be used in the criminal inquiry, and the justice department, which is trying to keep as many records in play. The Guardian has previously reported that Trump is seeking to withhold from federal prosecutors letters and signing sheets with the National Archives, among a number of documents that were scooped up by the FBI that appear germane to the criminal investigation. On the call, Dearie specifically asked Trump’s lawyers to give him a better sense of how one document, for instance, could both be subject to executive privilege – a designation applying to presidential records – and simultaneously be a non-governmental, personal document. “Unless I’m wrong, and I’ve been wrong before, there’s certainly an incongruity there,” Dearie said, appearing to cast doubt on the notion that a document could carry both characterizations. The special master also asked Trump’s lawyers to provide more details on documents they asserted were protected by attorney-client privilege, as he suggested that some of the documents in question had been seen by a third party, which would make the communications no longer confidential. Dearie also grew frustrated that the two sides were unable to resolve more disagreements among themselves, at one stage criticizing the government for not saying whether one of the documents, concerning the 2017 special counsel investigation, had been sent to the justice department. The conference call, however, did resolve why Trump’s legal team had been told at one stage that there could be 200,000 pages to examine but the actual number was 21,792 pages: a company hired to digitize the seized materials for the special master review had overestimated the page count. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Wheres The Beef?: Special Master Says Trumps Mar-A-Lago Records Claims Lack Substance
Pelosi Says She Doesn't Regret Threatening To Punch Trump | News Channel 3-12
Pelosi Says She Doesn't Regret Threatening To Punch Trump | News Channel 3-12
Pelosi Says She Doesn't Regret Threatening To Punch Trump | News Channel 3-12 https://digitalalaskanews.com/pelosi-says-she-doesnt-regret-threatening-to-punch-trump-news-channel-3-12/ By Annie Grayer and Aaron Pellish, CNN House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that she does not regret threatening to punch then-President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, if he came to the Capitol, but “he wouldn’t have had the courage to come to the Hill. He is all talk.” “That’s right,” Pelosi told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell when asked to address her comments about Trump on January 6. “I would have punched him out. I said I would have punched him out. I would have gone to jail. And I would have been happy to do so.” When Mitchell followed up to ask if she would have punched Trump, Pelosi said: “He wouldn’t have had the courage to come to the Hill. He is all talk.” Last week, CNN revealed previously unseen documentary footage of Pelosi captured by her daughter on January 6 showing the speaker reacting to her staff sharing reports that Trump was trying to come to the Capitol. “If he comes, I’m going to punch him out. I’ve been waiting for this. For trespassing on the Capitol grounds, I’m going to punch him out. And I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy,” Pelosi said in the footage. When asked if she would a support a criminal referral of Trump if he refuses to comply with the committee’s subpoena, Pelosi said, “That’s going to be up to the committee. Again, I keep my distance.” In the footage that aired on CNN last week, Pelosi’s chief of staff notifies her that the Secret Service “dissuaded (Trump) from coming to Capitol Hill.” It’s unclear how the aide learned this. But the footage backs up the testimony of  Trump White House official Cassidy Hutchinson, who told the January 6 committee about Trump’s attempts to force his security detail to take him to the Capitol, but they overruled him. The footage was captured by Alexandra Pelosi, a documentary filmmaker and daughter of the Democratic speaker of the House. Alexandra Pelosi has released documentaries on HBO for decades. CNN and HBO are both owned by the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. Nancy Pelosi was also asked in the Tuesday interview with MSNBC to address members of her own party who are calling for a new generation of Democratic leadership as they campaign ahead of the November midterms. “I say, just win baby. Just win. If that’s what you have to say to win, fine. And we will not, in any way, do anything but totally supportive, mobilization-wise, message-wise, money-wise, for those people to win their races,” she said. “Yes, we need generational change, of course we do. But, in some cases, there’s no substitute for experience” Pelosi added. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. CNN’s Marshall Cohen contributed to this report. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Pelosi Says She Doesn't Regret Threatening To Punch Trump | News Channel 3-12
Pelosi Says She Doesn't Regret Threatening To Punch Trump KION546
Pelosi Says She Doesn't Regret Threatening To Punch Trump KION546
Pelosi Says She Doesn't Regret Threatening To Punch Trump – KION546 https://digitalalaskanews.com/pelosi-says-she-doesnt-regret-threatening-to-punch-trump-kion546/ By Annie Grayer and Aaron Pellish, CNN House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that she does not regret threatening to punch then-President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, if he came to the Capitol, but “he wouldn’t have had the courage to come to the Hill. He is all talk.” “That’s right,” Pelosi told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell when asked to address her comments about Trump on January 6. “I would have punched him out. I said I would have punched him out. I would have gone to jail. And I would have been happy to do so.” When Mitchell followed up to ask if she would have punched Trump, Pelosi said: “He wouldn’t have had the courage to come to the Hill. He is all talk.” Last week, CNN revealed previously unseen documentary footage of Pelosi captured by her daughter on January 6 showing the speaker reacting to her staff sharing reports that Trump was trying to come to the Capitol. “If he comes, I’m going to punch him out. I’ve been waiting for this. For trespassing on the Capitol grounds, I’m going to punch him out. And I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy,” Pelosi said in the footage. When asked if she would a support a criminal referral of Trump if he refuses to comply with the committee’s subpoena, Pelosi said, “That’s going to be up to the committee. Again, I keep my distance.” In the footage that aired on CNN last week, Pelosi’s chief of staff notifies her that the Secret Service “dissuaded (Trump) from coming to Capitol Hill.” It’s unclear how the aide learned this. But the footage backs up the testimony of  Trump White House official Cassidy Hutchinson, who told the January 6 committee about Trump’s attempts to force his security detail to take him to the Capitol, but they overruled him. The footage was captured by Alexandra Pelosi, a documentary filmmaker and daughter of the Democratic speaker of the House. Alexandra Pelosi has released documentaries on HBO for decades. CNN and HBO are both owned by the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. Nancy Pelosi was also asked in the Tuesday interview with MSNBC to address members of her own party who are calling for a new generation of Democratic leadership as they campaign ahead of the November midterms. “I say, just win baby. Just win. If that’s what you have to say to win, fine. And we will not, in any way, do anything but totally supportive, mobilization-wise, message-wise, money-wise, for those people to win their races,” she said. “Yes, we need generational change, of course we do. But, in some cases, there’s no substitute for experience” Pelosi added. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. CNN’s Marshall Cohen contributed to this report. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Pelosi Says She Doesn't Regret Threatening To Punch Trump KION546
Primary Source For Trump-Russia Dossier Acquitted Handing Special Counsel Durham Another Trial Loss | CNN Politics
Primary Source For Trump-Russia Dossier Acquitted Handing Special Counsel Durham Another Trial Loss | CNN Politics
Primary Source For Trump-Russia Dossier Acquitted, Handing Special Counsel Durham Another Trial Loss | CNN Politics https://digitalalaskanews.com/primary-source-for-trump-russia-dossier-acquitted-handing-special-counsel-durham-another-trial-loss-cnn-politics/ Alexandria, Virginia CNN  —  Igor Danchenko, the primary source for the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, was acquitted Tuesday of four counts of lying to the FBI in an embarrassing defeat for special counsel John Durham. Durham has taken two cases to trial, and both have ended in acquittals. After more than three years looking for misconduct in the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe, Durham has only secured one conviction: the guilty plea of a low-level FBI lawyer, who got probation. The jury returned not guilty verdicts on all charges against Danchenko, a Russian expat and think tank analyst who provided the bulk of the material for the anti-Trump dossier. Durham initially charged Danchenko with five counts of lying to the FBI, but a judge threw out one of the charges on Friday. Jurors deliberated for about nine hours at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia. The verdict means jurors weren’t persuaded by Durham’s allegations that Danchenko lied to the FBI about his contacts with a Belarusian-American businessman who was a possible source for the dossier. The largely discredited dossier was a collection of unverified and salacious allegations compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele, whose dirt-digging was indirectly funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016. In many ways, the verdict is a direct blow to Durham, who personally handled most of the arguments and witness questioning. The proceedings were rocky at times for the special counsel, who lashed out at some of his own witnesses after they ended up providing testimony that helped Danchenko’s defense. Danchenko attorney Stuart Sears praised the result. “We’ve known all along that Mr. Danchenko was innocent. We’re happy now that the American public knows that as well,” Sears told reporters outside the courthouse. “We thank these jurors for their hard work and deliberation in reaching the right decision.” In a statement, Durham said: “While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service. I also want to recognize and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking truth and justice in this case.” The week-long trial against Danchenko resurrected many of the 2016 election dramas. FBI agents described their efforts to corroborate the Steele dossier, which ultimately came up empty. Jurors were shown portions of Steele’s memos, which he has previously said weren’t ever meant to become public. The dossier’s primary allegation – that there was a “well-developed conspiracy of cooperation” between Donald Trump and the Russians – repeatedly came up throughout the proceedings. Durham also used the case to put the FBI on trial, in what could be a preview of his upcoming final report. He zeroed in on the shortcomings and errors of the early Trump-Russia probe – specifically the bureau’s overreliance on the dossier to propel forward some key parts of their burgeoning inquiry. Danchenko is a Russian citizen but has lived in the US for years with his family. The FBI once scrutinized him as a possible counterintelligence threat, but later paid him as an informant. Durham pressed Danchenko’s FBI handler about the possibility that he was a Russian spy. To the contrary, the witness said Danchenko was a treasured FBI informant and suggested that Durham hurt US national security by indicting him. This story has been updated with additional details. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Primary Source For Trump-Russia Dossier Acquitted Handing Special Counsel Durham Another Trial Loss | CNN Politics
Iran Agrees To Ship Missiles More Drones To Russia
Iran Agrees To Ship Missiles More Drones To Russia
Iran Agrees To Ship Missiles, More Drones To Russia https://digitalalaskanews.com/iran-agrees-to-ship-missiles-more-drones-to-russia/ Iran to sell more drones, missiles to Russia West heavily criticises Iran over drones Tehran under pressure from mass protests Oct 18 (Reuters) – Iran has promised to provide Russia with surface to surface missiles, in addition to more drones, two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters, a move that is likely to infuriate the United States and other Western powers. A deal was agreed on Oct. 6 when Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, two senior officials from Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards and an official from the Supreme National Security Council visited Moscow for talks with Russia about the delivery of the weapons. “The Russians had asked for more drones and those Iranian ballistic missiles with improved accuracy, particularly the Fateh and Zolfaghar missiles family,” said one of the Iranian diplomats, who was briefed about the trip. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com A Western official briefed on the matter confirmed it, saying there was an agreement in place between Iran and Russia to provide surface-to-surface short range ballistic missiles, including the Zolfaghar. One of the drones Iran agreed to supply is the Shahed-136, a delta-winged weapon used as a “kamikaze” air-to-surface attack aircraft. It carries a small warhead that explodes on impact. Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar are Iranian short-range surface to surface ballistic missiles capable of striking targets at distances of between 300 km and 700 km (186 and 435 miles). The Iranian diplomat rejected assertions by Western officials that such transfers breach a 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution. “Where they are being used is not the seller’s issue. We do not take sides in the Ukraine crisis like the West. We want an end to the crisis through diplomatic means,” the diplomat said. Ukraine has reported a spate of Russian attacks using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks. Iran’s foreign ministry on Tuesday dismissed as baseless reports of Iran supplying drones and other weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, while the Kremlin on Tuesday denied its forces had used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine. Asked if Russia had used Iranian drones in its campaign in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin did not have any information about their use. “Russian equipment with Russian nomenclature is used,” he said. “All further questions should be directed to the Defence Ministry.” The ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The appearance of Iranian missiles in addition to drones in Moscow’s arsenal in the war with Ukraine would raise tensions between Iran and the United States and other Western powers. SHIPMENT ‘SOON, VERY SOON’ The U.S. State Department assessed that Iranian drones were used on Monday in a morning rush hour attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a U.S. official said. White House spokesperson Karinne Jean-Pierre also accused Tehran of lying when it said Iranian drones are not being used by Russia in Ukraine. A European diplomat said it was his country’s assessment that Russia was finding it more difficult to produce weaponry for itself given the sanctions on its industrial sector and so was turning to imports from partners like Iran and North Korea. “Drones and missiles are a logical next step,” said the European diplomat. Asked about sales of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles to Russia, a senior U.S. military official said: “I don’t have anything to provide at this time in terms of whether or not that is accurate at this point.” A view of drones during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on August 24, 2022. Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS Chafing under Western economic sanctions, Iran’s rulers are keen to strengthen strategic ties to Russia against an emerging, U.S.-backed Gulf Arab-Israeli bloc that could shift the Middle East balance of power further away from the Islamic Republic. The top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami said last month some of the “world’s major powers” are willing to purchase military and defence equipment from Iran. Rahim Safavi, a military adviser to Iran’s Supreme leader, was reported by state media on Tuesday as saying that 22 countries want to buy Iranian drones. Iran’s rulers are also under pressure from nationwide demonstrations which were ignited by the death in custody of a 22-year-old woman detained for “inappropriate attire”. Several European Union states on Monday called for sanctions on Iran over its supply of drones to Russia, as the bloc agreed a separate set of sanctions over Tehran’s crackdown on unrest. “They (Russians) wanted to buy hundreds of our missiles, even mid-range ones, but we told them that we can ship soon a few hundred of their demanded Zolfaghar and Fateh 110 short-range, surface to surface missiles,” said one of the security officials. “I cannot give you the exact time, but soon, very soon those will be shipped in 2 to three shipments.” An Eastern European official tracking Russia’s weapons activity said it was their understanding that this arms deal was happening, although he had no specific evidence to back it up. The official said that a decision had been taken by the Iranian and Russian leaders to proceed with the transfer. Moscow had specifically asked for surface to surface short-range Fateh 110 and Zolfaghar missiles, and the shipment will happen in a maximum of 10 days, said another Iranian diplomat. ATTACK DRONES The stakes are high for Iran, which has been negotiating with Western states to revive a 2015 deal that would ease sanctions on Tehran in return for limits on its nuclear work. The talks have deadlocked, and any disputes between Tehran and Western powers over arms sales to Russia or Iran’s crackdown on the unrest could weaken efforts to seal an accord. The United States agrees with British and French assessments that Iran supplying drones to Russia would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 deal, U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Monday. The Western official, who declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the matter, said that like the drones, missile transfers would also violate U.N. resolution 2231. Several senior Iranian officials are outraged about “unjust” planned sanctions on Iran over its arms shipments to Russia, said the second diplomat. In September, Tehran had refused a request by President Vladimir Putin for the supply of Iran’s sophisticated Arash 2 long-range attack drones, three Iranian officials told Reuters. When asked the reason for the refusal, one of the officials cited several issues including “some technical problems”. “Also the (Revolutionary) Guards’ commanders were worried that if Russia uses this Arash 2 drone in Ukraine, Americans may have access to our technology.” Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by William Maclean Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Iran Agrees To Ship Missiles More Drones To Russia
Netflix Adds A Better-Than-Expected 2.4 Million Subscribers
Netflix Adds A Better-Than-Expected 2.4 Million Subscribers
Netflix Adds A Better-Than-Expected 2.4 Million Subscribers https://digitalalaskanews.com/netflix-adds-a-better-than-expected-2-4-million-subscribers/ Updated Oct. 18, 2022 5:15 pm ET / Original Oct. 18, 2022 2:30 am ET Order Reprints Print Article Netflix snapped a two-quarter drop in subscribers in the latest quarter. The company said The Gray Man featuring Ryan Gosling was one of its most-watched films. Paul Abell/Netflix Netflix shares were trading sharply higher after the streaming giant posted better-than-expected subscriber growth for the third quarter. The company added 2.41 million net new subscribers in the quarter, beating its own forecast of 1 million additions. Netflix (ticker: NFLX) said it expects to add another 4.5 million subscribers in the December quarter. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Netflix Adds A Better-Than-Expected 2.4 Million Subscribers
US Forecast
US Forecast
US Forecast https://digitalalaskanews.com/us-forecast-153/ City/Town, State;Yesterday’s High Temp (F);Yesterday’s Low Temp (F);Today’s High Temp (F);Today’s Low Temp (F);Weather Condition;Wind Direction;Wind Speed (MPH);Humidity (%);Chance of Precip. (%);UV Index Albany, NY;57;35;53;36;Clouds and sun;S;9;58%;33%;3 Albuquerque, NM;64;46;69;48;Sunshine and nice;SSE;7;45%;0%;5 Anchorage, AK;45;36;46;39;Low clouds;S;6;73%;68%;0 Asheville, NC;40;29;52;28;Mostly sunny, cool;NW;11;46%;2%;4 Atlanta, GA;52;34;59;32;Sunny, but cool;WNW;10;35%;0%;4 Atlantic City, NJ;58;41;58;44;Breezy;W;14;53%;4%;4 Austin, TX;70;43;72;49;Sunny and beautiful;SSE;5;30%;0%;5 Baltimore, MD;57;39;57;39;Breezy and cool;WSW;14;45%;14%;3 Baton Rouge, LA;64;31;64;36;Sunny, but cool;NNW;6;39%;2%;5 Billings, MT;76;46;76;48;Mostly sunny, warm;SW;7;35%;0%;3 Birmingham, AL;55;31;61;32;Sunny, but cool;WNW;8;33%;1%;4 Bismarck, ND;49;23;69;35;Partly sunny;NW;9;46%;2%;3 Boise, ID;77;43;76;43;Sunny and warm;ENE;6;27%;0%;3 Boston, MA;66;43;60;42;Mostly sunny;SW;11;44%;6%;3 Bridgeport, CT;58;38;55;39;Clouds and sun;WSW;10;51%;5%;3 Buffalo, NY;44;39;46;39;Chilly with showers;W;14;75%;99%;1 Burlington, VT;59;35;55;40;Clouds and sun;S;10;58%;25%;3 Caribou, ME;62;57;61;37;A little a.m. rain;S;9;74%;85%;1 Casper, WY;72;36;73;37;Sunny and warm;SW;9;26%;1%;4 Charleston, SC;71;43;63;41;Sunny, but cool;WNW;9;42%;5%;5 Charleston, WV;46;35;53;31;Cold with clearing;SW;16;56%;15%;1 Charlotte, NC;56;34;60;33;Mostly sunny, cool;W;8;44%;0%;4 Cheyenne, WY;65;38;70;37;Sunny and mild;NW;15;21%;2%;4 Chicago, IL;46;34;48;35;Breezy and chilly;W;15;49%;2%;3 Cleveland, OH;46;41;46;38;Brief showers;WSW;20;76%;89%;1 Columbia, SC;61;37;63;35;Sunny, but cool;SW;6;42%;5%;4 Columbus, OH;46;37;48;29;A shower in the a.m.;WSW;13;62%;56%;2 Concord, NH;63;31;57;31;Clouds and sun;SSW;8;53%;6%;3 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX;62;39;69;52;Plenty of sunshine;S;5;29%;0%;5 Denver, CO;69;44;76;44;Sunny and warm;W;6;19%;2%;4 Des Moines, IA;42;20;49;34;Partly sunny;WSW;9;33%;3%;3 Detroit, MI;43;39;47;35;Showery;W;12;68%;91%;1 Dodge City, KS;57;29;76;42;Sunny and warmer;WSW;9;32%;2%;4 Duluth, MN;41;27;46;30;Partly sunny;WSW;9;58%;6%;3 El Paso, TX;67;45;71;48;Sun and clouds;E;7;55%;0%;5 Fairbanks, AK;38;26;38;28;Clouds and sun;NE;4;75%;27%;1 Fargo, ND;39;17;57;35;Partly sunny, milder;NW;8;34%;4%;3 Grand Junction, CO;73;42;74;43;Sunny and delightful;ENE;6;29%;0%;4 Grand Rapids, MI;44;40;46;37;A morning shower;W;14;71%;42%;1 Hartford, CT;61;36;56;37;Clouds and sun;SW;9;51%;5%;3 Helena, MT;71;34;68;41;Mostly sunny, mild;SSW;5;42%;0%;3 Honolulu, HI;87;70;86;71;An afternoon shower;NNE;8;60%;84%;7 Houston, TX;67;44;70;46;Sunny and pleasant;SE;7;30%;0%;5 Indianapolis, IN;44;33;51;30;Mostly sunny, cool;WSW;12;49%;3%;4 Jackson, MS;58;31;62;34;Sunny, but cool;SW;6;39%;0%;5 Jacksonville, FL;75;46;67;43;Sunshine, but cool;NNW;9;43%;8%;5 Juneau, AK;54;49;51;44;Rain;SW;18;89%;100%;0 Kansas City, MO;44;24;57;40;Partly sunny, warmer;SSW;7;31%;0%;4 Knoxville, TN;47;31;56;30;Mostly sunny, cool;SSW;8;46%;3%;4 Las Vegas, NV;87;60;89;60;Sunny;NW;5;19%;0%;4 Lexington, KY;47;30;53;29;Sunny and breezy;WSW;14;51%;1%;4 Little Rock, AR;56;31;59;34;Sunny, but cool;WSW;7;35%;0%;4 Long Beach, CA;89;65;92;67;Partly sunny;NNE;7;42%;0%;4 Los Angeles, CA;86;66;92;68;Partly sunny;NNE;7;39%;1%;4 Louisville, KY;47;33;56;31;Breezy in the p.m.;W;12;42%;2%;4 Madison, WI;44;28;45;30;Clouds and sun, cold;W;9;53%;1%;3 Memphis, TN;51;33;58;36;Sunny, but cool;WSW;7;35%;0%;4 Miami, FL;87;70;74;64;A t-storm, cooler;NNW;11;70%;97%;3 Milwaukee, WI;46;35;47;34;Chilly with some sun;W;12;52%;1%;3 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN;42;25;49;34;Clouds and sun;WSW;8;38%;4%;3 Mobile, AL;64;35;65;36;Sunny, but cool;N;9;37%;0%;5 Montgomery, AL;57;32;61;31;Sunny, but cool;NW;7;37%;0%;5 Mt. Washington, NH;38;24;29;17;Breezy in the a.m.;SW;19;80%;22%;3 Nashville, TN;54;31;58;29;Sunny, but cool;SW;8;35%;1%;4 New Orleans, LA;66;46;64;46;Breezy in the a.m.;NW;11;37%;0%;5 New York, NY;57;42;54;42;Clouds and sun;WSW;10;48%;5%;3 Newark, NJ;59;37;54;38;Breezy;WSW;15;50%;6%;3 Norfolk, VA;59;40;60;39;Mostly sunny, cool;WSW;10;46%;9%;4 Oklahoma City, OK;57;30;66;45;Plenty of sunshine;S;8;31%;0%;4 Olympia, WA;70;44;70;45;Partly sunny;NNE;6;76%;10%;3 Omaha, NE;43;18;58;36;Partly sunny, warmer;SSW;6;33%;4%;3 Orlando, FL;82;53;70;53;Partly sunny;N;10;38%;27%;5 Philadelphia, PA;56;38;55;39;Breezy with some sun;WSW;13;49%;6%;3 Phoenix, AZ;88;68;89;66;Plenty of sunshine;ENE;9;26%;0%;4 Pittsburgh, PA;45;36;44;34;Rain/snow showers;WSW;15;75%;90%;1 Portland, ME;64;42;59;39;Clouds and sunshine;SW;10;52%;6%;3 Portland, OR;75;49;77;51;Partly sunny;N;6;56%;6%;3 Providence, RI;66;38;58;37;Mostly sunny;SW;8;48%;6%;3 Raleigh, NC;58;34;59;36;Mostly sunny, cool;WSW;8;46%;5%;4 Reno, NV;78;40;79;40;Mostly sunny, warm;W;3;25%;0%;4 Richmond, VA;57;36;59;35;Cool with sunshine;WSW;10;48%;10%;4 Roswell, NM;60;42;73;44;Mostly sunny, warmer;SSW;7;55%;1%;5 Sacramento, CA;84;52;90;54;Partly sunny;SE;5;36%;1%;4 Salt Lake City, UT;75;48;75;49;Sunny and warm;ESE;6;34%;0%;4 San Antonio, TX;69;46;74;48;Sunny and delightful;SSW;6;31%;0%;5 San Diego, CA;82;64;87;64;Mostly sunny;NE;7;50%;0%;5 San Francisco, CA;74;56;76;56;Partly sunny;SW;7;58%;1%;4 Savannah, GA;70;41;66;38;Sunny, but cool;WNW;8;43%;4%;5 Seattle-Tacoma, WA;71;51;70;52;Some sun;NNE;7;65%;12%;3 Sioux Falls, SD;42;14;51;34;Partly sunny, warmer;WSW;6;30%;4%;3 Spokane, WA;74;40;73;43;Hazy sunshine;SSE;4;47%;1%;3 Springfield, IL;48;25;50;28;Partly sunny, cold;WSW;11;38%;0%;4 St. Louis, MO;50;28;53;31;Mostly sunny, cool;SW;10;33%;0%;4 Tampa, FL;82;52;70;48;Mostly sunny;NNE;9;41%;11%;5 Toledo, OH;45;41;49;37;A shower in the a.m.;WSW;11;66%;57%;1 Tucson, AZ;81;62;84;61;Breezy in the a.m.;E;13;35%;0%;5 Tulsa, OK;53;26;62;40;Plenty of sunshine;SSW;5;36%;0%;4 Vero Beach, FL;85;61;71;60;Clouds breaking;N;13;60%;28%;3 Washington, DC;56;39;57;38;Breezy and cool;WSW;15;46%;13%;3 Wichita, KS;52;24;68;40;Sunny and warmer;S;9;30%;0%;4 Wilmington, DE;57;37;55;37;Breezy;WSW;13;52%;4%;3 _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
US Forecast
Primary Source For Trump-Russia Dossier Acquitted Handing Special Counsel Durham Another Trial Loss | News Channel 3-12
Primary Source For Trump-Russia Dossier Acquitted Handing Special Counsel Durham Another Trial Loss | News Channel 3-12
Primary Source For Trump-Russia Dossier Acquitted, Handing Special Counsel Durham Another Trial Loss | News Channel 3-12 https://digitalalaskanews.com/primary-source-for-trump-russia-dossier-acquitted-handing-special-counsel-durham-another-trial-loss-news-channel-3-12/ By Marshall Cohen Igor Danchenko, the primary source for the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, was acquitted Tuesday of four counts of lying to the FBI in an embarrassing defeat for special counsel John Durham. Durham has taken two cases to trial, and both have ended in acquittals. After more than three years looking for misconduct in the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe, Durham has only secured one conviction: the guilty plea of a low-level FBI lawyer, who got probation. The jury returned not guilty verdicts on all charges against Danchenko, a Russian expat and think tank analyst who provided the bulk of the material for the anti-Trump dossier. Durham initially charged Danchenko with five counts of lying to the FBI, but a judge threw out one of the charges on Friday. The verdict means jurors weren’t persuaded by Durham’s allegations that Danchenko lied to the FBI about his contacts with a Belarusian-American businessman who was a possible source for the dossier. The largely discredited dossier was a collection of unverified and salacious allegations compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele, whose dirt-digging was indirectly funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016. In many ways, the verdict is a direct blow to Durham, who personally handled most of the arguments and witness questioning. The proceedings were rocky at times for the special counsel, who lashed out at some of his own witnesses after they ended up providing testimony that helped Danchenko’s defense. Danchenko attorney Stuart Sears praised the result. “We’ve known all along that Mr. Danchenko was innocent. We’re happy now that the American public knows that as well,” Sears told reporters outside the courthouse. “We thank these jurors for their hard work and deliberation in reaching the right decision.” In a statement, Durham said: “While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service. I also want to recognize and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking truth and justice in this case.” The week-long trial against Danchenko resurrected many of the 2016 election dramas. FBI agents described their efforts to corroborate the Steele dossier, which ultimately came up empty. Jurors were shown portions of Steele’s memos, which he has previously said weren’t ever meant to become public. The dossier’s primary allegation — that there was a “well-developed conspiracy of cooperation” between Donald Trump and the Russians — repeatedly came up throughout the proceedings. Durham also used the case to put the FBI on trial, in what could be a preview of his upcoming final report. He zeroed in on the shortcomings and errors of the early Trump-Russia probe — specifically the bureau’s overreliance on the dossier to propel forward some key parts of their burgeoning inquiry. Danchenko is a Russian citizen but has lived in the US for years with his family. The FBI once scrutinized him as a possible counterintelligence threat, but later paid him as an informant. Durham pressed Danchenko’s FBI handler about the possibility that he was a Russian spy. To the contrary, the witness said Danchenko was a treasured FBI informant and suggested that Durham hurt US national security by indicting him. This story has been updated with additional details. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Primary Source For Trump-Russia Dossier Acquitted Handing Special Counsel Durham Another Trial Loss | News Channel 3-12
Main Trump-Russia Dossier Source Acquitted Of Lying To FBI | National Review
Main Trump-Russia Dossier Source Acquitted Of Lying To FBI | National Review
Main Trump-Russia Dossier Source Acquitted Of Lying To FBI | National Review https://digitalalaskanews.com/main-trump-russia-dossier-source-acquitted-of-lying-to-fbi-national-review/ Main Trump-Russia Dossier Source Acquitted of Lying to FBI  National Review Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Main Trump-Russia Dossier Source Acquitted Of Lying To FBI | National Review
Acquittal Of Russia Analyst Deals Another Blow To Trump-Era Prosecutor
Acquittal Of Russia Analyst Deals Another Blow To Trump-Era Prosecutor
Acquittal Of Russia Analyst Deals Another Blow To Trump-Era Prosecutor https://digitalalaskanews.com/acquittal-of-russia-analyst-deals-another-blow-to-trump-era-prosecutor/ John H. Durham, the special counsel looking into the origins of the Russia investigation, had accused Igor Danchenko of lying to the F.B.I. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Two F.B.I. agents have testified that Igor Danchenko, who became a paid confidential source, had provided the bureau with valuable information.Credit…Drew Angerer/Getty Images Oct. 18, 2022Updated 5:00 p.m. ET ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Igor Danchenko, an analyst who provided much of the research in a notorious dossier of unproven assertions and rumors about former President Donald J. Trump and Russia, was acquitted on Tuesday on four counts of lying to the F.B.I. about one of his sources. The verdict was another stinging defeat for the special counsel, John H. Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General William P. Barr three years ago to investigate the F.B.I.’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. Mr. Trump and his supporters have long insisted the inquiry would prove a “deep state” conspiracy against him, but after pursuing various baseless theories, Mr. Durham never found and charged one. Instead he developed two narrow cases accusing people involved in outside efforts to scrutinize purported links between Mr. Trump and Russia of making false statements. The first of those cases ended in an acquittal of the defendant, Michael Sussmann, a cybersecurity lawyer with Democratic connections. The trial against Mr. Danchenko is expected to be the last of Mr. Durham’s prosecutions, and the special counsel is expected to submit a final report to the Justice Department this year summarizing his findings. The jury deliberated for a day before finding Mr. Danchenko not guilty. The accusations against Mr. Danchenko, an analyst who was born in Russia, centered on two of his sources for the salacious claims and unsubstantiated assertions in the so-called Steele dossier, which said that Mr. Trump and his 2016 campaign were colluding with the Russian government. After BuzzFeed published the dossier in 2017, public suspicions of Mr. Trump escalated, but it has since been discredited. In closing arguments on Monday, a prosecutor working for Mr. Durham asserted that Mr. Danchenko had clearly lied to the F.B.I. His false assertions had a material effect, the prosecutor added, pointing to part of the dossier that the F.B.I. had cited to bolster applications to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser with ties to Russia. “This defendant’s lies caused intensive surveillance on a U.S. citizen,” said the prosecutor, Michael Keilty, an assistant special counsel. In his own remarks, Mr. Durham sought to broaden the case, telling jurors that “the whole house of cards of the dossier crumbles” under the weight of the evidence. But the defense said the government’s own evidence showed that Mr. Danchenko did not lie. The lawyer, Stuart A. Sears, characterized Mr. Danchenko as a valuable and honest asset to the F.B.I. who unwittingly became embroiled in a politically charged investigation. Mr. Durham, he said, was intent on proving crimes “at any cost” and presumed Mr. Danchenko guilty from the start. “He’s trying to help the F.B.I., and now they’re indicting him for it,” Mr. Sears said. Mr. Trump and his supporters have falsely sought to conflate the dossier with the official investigation into Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia, but the F.B.I. did not open the inquiry based on the dossier and the final report by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, did not cite anything in it as evidence. The F.B.I. pointed to several claims in the dossier in applying to wiretap the former Trump campaign adviser. An inspector general’s investigation uncovered that the bureau had continued to do so after talking to Mr. Danchenko without telling a surveillance court that there was reason to doubt the dossier’s credibility. The dossier was political opposition research indirectly funded by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee. They paid a law firm, which paid a research firm, which in turn subcontracted to a firm run by Christopher Steele, a former British spy. Mr. Steele hired Mr. Danchenko to canvass contacts in Russia and Europe about Mr. Trump’s business dealings in Russia. Mr. Danchenko conveyed rumors that Mr. Trump’s campaign was colluding with Russia, and that Russia had a blackmail tape of Mr. Trump with prostitutes in a hotel room in Moscow. But during an interview with the F.B.I., Mr. Danchenko said that he had first seen the dossier when BuzzFeed published it and that Mr. Steele had exaggerated his statements, portraying uncorroborated gossip as fact. The F.B.I. made Mr. Danchenko a paid confidential source and he disclosed how he had learned about the rumors. While he did not provide information corroborating the dossier, the trial has shown that the bureau found his network of contacts valuable for identifying Russian influence operations in the United States. But in November 2021, Mr. Durham charged Mr. Danchenko with making false statements to the F.B.I. about two of his sources for claims in the dossier. The special counsel said he had lied when he said he never “talked” to Charles Dolan, a Democratic lobbyist, about anything in the dossier even though Mr. Dolan had emailed him information about office politics in the Trump campaign that appeared in the dossier. The counsel also accused Mr. Danchenko of lying four times to the F.B.I. when he repeatedly said that he believed a person who had called and provided information without identifying himself was likely Sergei Millian, a former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce. The trial, which began last week, concluded much earlier than anticipated, after the judge overseeing the case excluded much of the material that Mr. Durham had wanted to showcase, including the purported blackmail tape. Mr. Durham faced additional setbacks during the trial. Two witnesses for the government, both F.B.I. agents, seemed to undermine the prosecution’s case during their testimony, including by saying what Mr. Danchenko had told them about not having “talked” to Mr. Dolan about Trump campaign office politics was “literally true” since it was an email. On Friday, Judge Anthony Trenga dismissed the charge concerning Mr. Dolan before it could go to the jury, saying Mr. Durham had failed to present sufficient evidence. Mr. Danchenko told the F.B.I. that he had received that call in late July 2016, and that he had arranged to meet that person in New York that month. That person did not show up, Mr. Danchenko has said. The prosecution stressed that traditional phone records did not show evidence of such a call, but the defense emphasized that it could have unfolded over an app. The prosecution also pointed to an email Mr. Danchenko had sent to Mr. Millian that made no mention of an earlier call or missed meeting, but an F.B.I. agent later testified that it was reasonable for an email to omit such a reference if he believed the caller was seeking anonymity. Linda Qiu reported from Alexandria, Va., and Charlie Savage reported from Washington. Adam Goldman contributed reporting from Alexandria, Va. / Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Acquittal Of Russia Analyst Deals Another Blow To Trump-Era Prosecutor
McCarthy Signals GOP-Led House Likely To Oppose More Aid To Ukraine
McCarthy Signals GOP-Led House Likely To Oppose More Aid To Ukraine
McCarthy Signals GOP-Led House Likely To Oppose More Aid To Ukraine https://digitalalaskanews.com/mccarthy-signals-gop-led-house-likely-to-oppose-more-aid-to-ukraine/ House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is signaling that if Republicans win the House majority in next month’s midterm elections, the GOP is likely to oppose more aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia. Since the invasion in February the majority of congressional Republicans and Democrats have united in authorizing billions of dollars in U.S. military and humanitarian assistance to Kyiv as a geopolitical and moral stand against Vladimir Putin’s aggression. McCarthy, who could be House speaker if Republicans triumph, indicated that that could end in a GOP-led House. “I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” he recently told Punchbowl News. “They just won’t do it.” McCarthy suggested that Americans want Congress to focus on issues closer to home. “There’s the things [the Biden administration] is not doing domestically,” he said. “Not doing the border, and people begin to weigh that. Ukraine is important, but at the same time, it can’t be the only thing they do, and it can’t be a blank check.” The United States has authorized upward of $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, with more than $18.2 billion in security assistance given since January 2021. The Senate voted to finalize more than $40 billion in new military and humanitarian assistance in May, with Republicans being the only lawmakers voting against that package — the largest investment in Ukraine thus far. Eleven Republican senators and 57 House GOP members opposed the legislation, arguing that more needs to be done to account for how the money is spent and to trace weapons and equipment sent to the battlefield. On Friday, the United States announced an additional $725 million in security assistance for Ukraine, including more ammunition for high mobility rocket systems, or HIMARS, as well as precision-guided artillery rounds, antitank weapons and Humvees, according to a Pentagon statement. Although most of the congressional leadership, most notably Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have been steadfast in support for Ukraine, voters in several states in January could send Republicans to Washington who are eager to oppose aid. The number of those wary of foreign aid and adherents of former president Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda are expected to grow in the next Congress. In September, J.D. Vance, the venture capitalist and author who is locked in a close race for a U.S. Senate seat representing Ohio, said he wants “the Ukrainians to be successful” but not because of continued U.S. funding. “I do think that we have to get to a point, and this is where we do disagree, we’ve got to stop the money spigot to Ukraine eventually,” he told the ABC affiliate in Toledo. “We cannot fund a long-term military conflict that I think ultimately has diminishing returns for our own country.” Vance added, “I think we’re at the point where we’ve given enough money in Ukraine, I really do. … The Europeans need to step up. And frankly, if the Ukrainians and the Europeans, more importantly, knew that America wasn’t going to foot the bill, they might actually step up.” Europe has provided a significant amount of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. In Arizona, Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters criticized the additional funding for Ukraine in May, claiming that the money should be used instead to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. “Under Joe Biden, it’s always America last,” he said in a video he tweeted. “Let’s be clear about what this means. It means no cease-fire. It means another foreign war where we pay for everything. Many more thousands of people will die. There’s no resolution, no end in sight. The risk of course is that a proxy war can escalate into an all-out nuclear war between nuclear powers.” In New Hampshire, Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc said last week that more spending is not the answer to improving conditions in Ukraine. “We must hold the administration accountable,” he told New Hampshire’s ABC affiliate. “We just can’t print this money. It’s money we don’t have, and it’s equipment that’s being thrown at a problem without any strategy, without any policy, and it’s not going to get the job done.” These Republicans could join Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who in May temporarily held up $40 billion of aid to Ukraine, saying, “you can’t save Ukraine by dooming the U.S. economy.” Nevada Republican Senate nominee Adam Laxalt tweeted in May that the $40 billion U.S. aid to Ukraine was a “shockingly abhorrent proposal.” The loudest voices on the right on the issue, such as Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, have been outspoken in questioning aid to Ukraine. The Conservative Political Action Conference in September posted, then deleted, a tweet that echoed Kremlin language and called for a halt to “gift-giving to Ukraine.” It later issued a statement reaffirming its stance on U.S. assistance. “We must oppose Putin, but American taxpayers should not be shouldering the vast majority of the cost,” it said. A September Pew Research poll found that most Republicans and Democrats say that the U.S. is providing “about right” or “not enough” support to Ukraine, though 32 percent of Republicans said the U.S. is providing “too much,” a figure that has more than tripled since March (9 percent). Relatedly, Americans’ concern about Ukraine being defeated and taken over by Russia dropped from 55 percent in May to 38 percent in September. McCarthy’s comments to Punch Bowl News drew an incredulous response from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who tweeted at McCarthy, “What in the absolute bloody hell is happening to @GOPLeader.” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has warned that if the GOP wins the House, help for Ukraine would be in jeopardy. “I just see a freight train coming, and that is Trump and his operation turning against aid for Ukraine,” he said on MSNBC. “House Republicans, if they were to take the majority, being preternaturally against anything Joe Biden is for — including the war in Ukraine — and there being a real crisis where the House Republican majority would refuse to support additional aid to Ukraine.” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that she did not want to engage in hypotheticals about what could happen if Republicans gained control of the House, but she said the president would continue to support the Ukrainian people’s efforts to defend themselves. “We will continue to work with Congress and continue to monitor those conversations on these efforts and support Ukraine as long as it takes,” she said. “We are going to keep that promise that we’re making to the brave Ukrainians who are fighting every day to fight for their freedom and their democracy.” Scott Clement and Azi Paybarah contributed to this report. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
McCarthy Signals GOP-Led House Likely To Oppose More Aid To Ukraine
Democrats GOP See California As Target For US House Gains
Democrats GOP See California As Target For US House Gains
Democrats, GOP See California As Target For US House Gains https://digitalalaskanews.com/democrats-gop-see-california-as-target-for-us-house-gains/ House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has predicted the GOP could seize control of the chamber in November by picking up seats in just one state: his own, California. Home to 1 in 8 Americans, the nation’s most populous state is known as a Democratic monolith, but that distinction masks a more complicated political stew behind its national reputation. No one disputes that California tilts to the political left — Republicans haven’t won a statewide race since 2006 and Democrats dominate the legislative and congressional delegations. But scattered pockets of conservative strength remain, particularly in rural and farming areas and sprawling Southern California suburbs. McCarthy, who lives in Bakersfield, and other Republicans believe as many as five districts in California could swing their way next month — enough to give them House control in a year when voters typically punish the party that holds the White House. In a troubling sign for Democrats, President Joe Biden’s popularity nationally remains lackluster. With mail-in ballots for the Nov. 8 election already sent to voters, many Californians are in an anxious mood, stressed by high prices at the grocery store and gas pump, an unchecked homeless crisis and rising crime rates spotlighted in Los Angeles and other big cities by smash-and-grab robberies and home invasions. Republicans fault Biden and state Democrats for crime and inflation, while Democrats have been warning about threats to abortion rights, mirroring arguments that frame the national fight for the House majority. In an acknowledgement of the risks, Biden visited California last week to shore up support for vulnerable Democrats and raise money. About a half-dozen House contests are closely matched, and several others are competitive. There are 221 Democrats, 212 Republicans and two vacancies in the House. The GOP, however, must overcome hefty Democratic registration advantages in some competitive districts. State Republican ranks have been withering for years and the GOP is outnumbered about 2-to-1 by Democrats statewide. The main battlegrounds are Orange County — a suburban expanse south of Los Angeles that was once a GOP stronghold but has become increasingly diverse and Democratic — and the Central Valley, an inland stretch sometimes called the nation’s salad bowl for its agricultural production. California is dropping to 52 House seats next year, from 53, because its once-soaring population growth has stalled. Republicans hold just 11 of those seats. Democrats want to claw back four House districts they lost in 2020 and hope to gain more. They’ve been stressing that reproductive rights are on the ballot and would be in jeopardy if Republicans take charge, after the Supreme Court in June stripped away constitutional protections for abortion. Former President Donald Trump’s continued influence on the GOP looms in the background — he’s widely unpopular in the state outside his conservative base. “If we lose control of the House and Senate, we have a different world,” Biden warned at a recent Democratic National Committee reception. “There’s so much at stake.” A look at key races: A Trump supporter fights for his seat north of Los Angeles You might not expect to find a Trump ally in a district anchored north of heavily Democratic Los Angeles. But Republican Rep. Mike Garcia has won two consecutive elections, the last two years ago by just 333 votes. He faces an even tougher challenge this year in his left-leaning district after it was redrawn and became more solidly Democratic. However, the former Navy fighter pilot has shown he can beat the odds. He twice defeated favored Democrat Christy Smith for the seat. She is on the ballot again — this time in the new 27th District, which has a 12-point Democratic edge. Smith, a former legislator, has been arguing Garcia is out of step with district voters: He was endorsed by then-President Trump in his 2020 contest, then joined House Republicans who rejected electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania and opposed Trump’s impeachment after the Capitol insurrection. Garcia, the only GOP congressman in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, highlights his military service and points to his vote supporting $2,000 stimulus checks as one example of his political independence. The district includes a large number of veterans and is home to defense industries, which could be an asset for Garcia. He’s also stressed local issues, including concern over illegal marijuana cultivation. Smith has highlighted Garcia’s opposition to abortion rights, while calling for expanded access to health care. A battle for the soul of ‘Reagan Country” It was a shock in 2016 when then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton captured Orange County, a place long synonymous with conservative politics and known as “Reagan country” for its ties to former President Ronald Reagan. But the county that was once largely white and Republican has grown demographically diverse and increasingly Democratic. This year brings a marquee matchup between Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, a national progressive star, and Republican Scott Baugh, a former state legislative leader and past head of the county GOP, in the coastal 47th District that includes Huntington Beach and other famous surf breaks. The swing district is closely divided between Republicans and Democrats, and voters have a stark choice. Baugh is well known in the county but Porter boasts a huge financial edge: The most recent fundraising reports show she has nearly $20 million in the bank, compared to about $1 million for Baugh. A district with an Asian tilt brings bitter contest The 45th District anchored in Orange County was specifically drawn to give Asian Americans, who comprise the largest group in the district, a stronger voice on Capitol Hill. It has a Democratic registration edge and includes the nation’s largest Vietnamese American community. The fight for the seat has evolved into a hostile confrontation between Republican Rep. Michelle Steel, a South Korean immigrant looking for a second term in Congress, and Democrat Jay Chen, a Navy reservist and the son of immigrants from Taiwan. Both have made inflation and hate crimes against Asian Americans key issues. They’ve also kept up steady attacks against each other. Chen’s advertising depicts Steel as an extremist who would threaten abortion rights, while Republicans accused Chen of “racism” after he told supporters an “interpreter” was needed to understand Steel’s remarks, arguing that Chen was mocking her accented English. Chen has said he was referring to “convoluted talking points” that he said Steel uses to sidestep issues, not her accent. Steel has also distributed flyers depicting Chen as a communist sympathizer, while Chen has said his grandmother fled China to escape communist rule. The race is being watched nationally for what it will say about the preferences of the Asian community. Republicans seek to beat the odds in farm belt showdown On paper, California’s 22nd District in the state’s farm belt looks like a Democratic fortress. The party holds a 17-point edge in voter registration. But it’s here that Republican Rep. David Valadao is trying to win a return trip to Washington. He’s proven resilient. Valadao, who emphasizes a bipartisan streak, has won in a heavily Democratic, largely Latino district before. He held his seat from 2013 until January 2019, lost it for a term, then won it back in a 2020 rematch with Democrat T.J. Cox. He’s facing Democrat Rudy Salas in a newly redrawn district. Salas, a state assemblyman who is considered a moderate, has been dueling with Valadao over gas taxes, the opioid overdose crisis and health care. Registration numbers can be deceiving in the Central Valley. Democrats see potential breakthrough in changing district Rep. Ken Calvert is the longest-serving Republican in the California congressional delegation, having held office for nearly three decades in a district east of Los Angeles. But that changed with the once-a-decade redrawing of congressional boundaries, which transformed his formerly safe seat into a battleground about equally split between Republicans and Democrats. Calvert brings the benefits of incumbency and a fundraising edge to the 41st District race, but his conservative credentials and support from Trump pose a challenging fit in a district that now includes many transplanted Los Angeles residents and liberal Palm Springs, which has a large concentration of LGBTQ voters. He’s facing Democrat Will Rollins, a former federal prosecutor who is gay. Rollins calls Calvert an extremist and places safeguarding democracy and protecting abortion and LGBTQ rights among his top priorities. Democrats defending district on the southern California coast Republicans see a pickup opportunity in the 49th District, which runs through Orange and San Diego counties and only has a slight Democratic registration edge. Democratic Rep. Mike Levin is seeking another term after first capturing the seat in 2018, and he’s facing businessman and former San Juan Capistrano Mayor Brian Maryott, who was defeated by Levin in 2020. Levin has focused heavily on veterans affairs, as well as climate change and the environment, in the coastal district that straddles Camp Pendleton. Maryott says he will resist “fringe socialist interests” and argues its time for a change with families and businesses “feeling the squeeze of inflation, higher interest rates, higher gas and energy prices.” Open seat stage for toss-up contest in farm belt A new district in the Central Valley could go either way. Like other districts in the farm-belt region, the 13th District has a prominent Democratic tilt and a large Latino population. But the most likely voters tend to be...
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Democrats GOP See California As Target For US House Gains
Biden Has Shunned Campaign Appearances In Key States. Blame His Approval Rating
Biden Has Shunned Campaign Appearances In Key States. Blame His Approval Rating
Biden Has Shunned Campaign Appearances In Key States. Blame His Approval Rating https://digitalalaskanews.com/biden-has-shunned-campaign-appearances-in-key-states-blame-his-approval-rating/ WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s political travel schedule is lighter than his two immediate predecessors at the same point in the midterm campaign, highlighting the challenge unpopular presidents face trying to stave off congressional losses. They are often unsuccessful. While Biden has raised millions of dollars for Democratic candidates this year, his party is still favored to lose control of at least the House, with polls showing voters concerned foremost about the economy under his watch. Though candidates of the president’s party often try to distance themselves from him when they’re in tight races, Biden has been notably absent from competitive Senate and gubernatorial races in states including Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina. His only travel scheduled for this week will be to Pennsylvania, which he has often described as his home state, where Lt. Gov. John Fetterman leads the race for a Senate seat over Republican Mehmet Oz. During the same week in their first midterm campaigns in 2018 and 2010, former President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama traveled to three and four states, respectively, for political events. Biden’s campaign travel decisions are rooted in whether he’s an asset or a liability for individual candidates in the areas he’s considering visiting, Democratic strategist Jon Reinish said. “If it benefits a race, where his presence is positive, then I’m sure he’ll do it,” said Reinish. “If part of the team winning means he stays away or contributes in other ways, like raising money, then so be it.” The schedule provides a snapshot of the challenges Biden faces in his role as head of a Democratic Party at risk of losing its congressional majorities. Presidents during off-year campaigns are expected to travel to promote their achievements, boost congressional and gubernatorial candidates and rake in cash from donors. Biden and his political advisers have repeatedly promised a robust schedule of trips during the campaign. The president last week made a three-state trip out West and next week plans to visit Florida and return to Pennsylvania for political events. The White House could also add travel to his schedule. “I’m going to other races. I can’t tell you how many, but I’m going to be on the road,” Biden told reporters last week during a stop in Los Angeles. Yet underpinning Biden’s relatively thin travel schedule this week is a political reality: His approval ratings have remained stuck underwater amid stubbornly high inflation and fears of a coming recession. Just under 43% of Americans approve of Biden’s job performance, while around 53% disapprove, according to the FiveThirtyEight polling average. That has hampered his ability to help many Democrats running in close races. Biden has acknowledged that he may be a political liability, joking at an Aug. 25 rally in Rockville, Maryland, that he told Sen. Chris Van Hollen beforehand, “I’ll come campaign for him or against him, whichever will help the most.” The president’s party usually suffers losses in midterm elections, in part because their political standing has eroded since their elections. Not traveling to states with tough races allows Democrats to avoid being forced to answer the awkward question of whether to appear with the president. On his Western swing last week, Biden skipped Nevada and Arizona, states where he could hurt Democratic senators facing tough reelection bids. Asked Monday about Biden’s travel schedule this week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pointed to the West Coast trip last week and other recent travel. “He’s been on the road nonstop,” Jean-Pierre told reporters, adding “and where he is needed, he will go.” Obama and Trump both saw their parties lose control of the House in their first midterm after taking office. Democrats’ loss of a net 63 House seats in 2010 was the largest shift in seats since 1948. All of the candidates Trump campaigned for in the the third to last week of the 2018 midterms lost their races, and Democrats went on to win back control of the House. While their approaches didn’t forestall net losses, Biden’s predecessors tackled meatier travel schedules under similar circumstances. Obama mostly campaigned in Blue states three weeks before Election Day, staging rallies for then-Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and headlining events for then-Senate candidate Chris Coons in Delaware and the Democratic National Committee in Philadelphia. He also campaigned for vulnerable Democratic Rep. Ron Klein in Florida. At the time, Obama’s approval rating stood at 45% in Gallup’s tracking poll. Trump, whose approval rating stood at 44% in Gallup’s poll at the same point in 2018, staged rallies for Montana Senate candidate Matt Rosendale, Arizona Senate candidate Martha McSally, then-Nevada Sen. Dean Heller and gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt. The former president has maintained his grip on the GOP and has often shadowed Biden with rallies during the 2022 elections. Obama is planning trips next week to three crucial battleground states: Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan, while Trump is holding a rally in Texas on Saturday. Reinish said that presidential campaigning in off-year elections can be less helpful than it once was as the nation has become more polarized and old political coalitions have vanished. “The gettable voters out there have changed, there’s more needle threading than when you were appealing to a truly massive coalition on both sides of the aisle,” he said. Biden has found other ways to get his message out. Before appearing Thursday at an event for Fetterman in Philadelphia, Biden will travel to Pittsburgh to speak about his signature infrastructure law. White House surrogates — including first lady Jill Biden, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentlemen Doug Emhoff — have also traveled to campaign, raise money or highlight the administration’s message. Biden’s lone trip this week is sandwiched between weekends in his home state of Delaware. He returned to Washington on Monday from his house outside Wilmington and plans to spend next weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach, according to the White House. Biden has made 55 visits to Delaware since he was inaugurated, totaling more than a quarter of his presidency, according to a CNN report. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Biden Has Shunned Campaign Appearances In Key States. Blame His Approval Rating
New Woodward Audiobook Shows Trump Knew Kim Letters Were Classified
New Woodward Audiobook Shows Trump Knew Kim Letters Were Classified
New Woodward Audiobook Shows Trump Knew Kim Letters Were Classified https://digitalalaskanews.com/new-woodward-audiobook-shows-trump-knew-kim-letters-were-classified/ In December 2019, after then-President Donald Trump had shared with journalist Bob Woodward the fawning letters that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had written to him, the U.S. leader seems to acknowledge he should not be showing them around. After urging Woodward to “treat them with respect,” Trump warns in an interview, “and don’t say I gave them to you, okay?” “But I’ll let you see them,” Trump adds. “I don’t want you to have them all.” A month later, in January 2020, Woodward pressed Trump in a phone call to let him also see the letters that Trump wrote to Kim. “Oh, those are so top secret,” Trump says, according to notes of the call taken by Woodward and highlighted in a new audiobook: “The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews with President Trump.” In hindsight, the comments by Trump show he was well aware that the 27 letters exchanged between himself and Kim were classified, despite his repeated claims that none of the documents he improperly took from the White House when leaving office, including the Kim letters, were in that category. The FBI and Justice Department this year executed a court-authorized search of Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago Club and residence — turning up 103 documents marked classified and roughly 11,000 not marked classified as part of an ongoing criminal probe into Trump’s handling of sensitive material. The new details also provide further evidence of Trump’s abiding obsession with the Kim letters, which he often bragged about and would show off to friends. The English translations of the letters, which Woodward includes as an appendix to a written transcript of the audiobook, shows page after page of pen-pal niceties — birthday tidings, “best wishes” for friends and family — between the then-president and the autocratic leader of one of the world’s most repressive regimes. The audiobook, which comes out next Tuesday, contains 19 raw and lengthy interviews Woodward conducted with Trump between fall of 2019 through August 2020 for his book, “Rage,” as well as one interview he conducted with Washington Post reporter Robert Costa in 2016. The interviews, Woodward says in his introduction, were edited only for clarity. During the December 2019 interview, Trump asks Woodward what he did with the letters he had provided him at that point, asking if he made “a Photostat of them or something” — apparently referring to a photocopy. “No, I dictated them into a tape recorder,” Woodward replies, to Trump’s amusement. In an interview with The Post ahead of the audiobook’s release, Woodward said Trump helped set him up with an aide in the West Wing, who supervised as Woodward — who had been given both the English translations and original Korean versions of Kim’s letters to Trump — handled the documents and dictated them all into his tape recorder. Later, after Trump agreed to share his letters to Kim, Woodward said he returned to a West Wing office, where an aide again watched as he read the new set of letters into his tape recorder. In the interview, Woodward also said he observed no classified markings on any of the letters he was given, though U.S. officials have indicated that they were classified documents. In an aside in the audio book, Woodward describes “the casual, dangerous way that Trump treats the most classified programs and information, as we’ve seen now in 2022 in Mar-a-Lago, where he had 184 classified documents, including 25 marked ‘Top Secret.’” That was in reference to Trump implying there was a secretive weapons system he controlled. “I have built a weapons system that nobody’s ever had in this country before,” Trump said in an interview, before referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. “We have stuff that you haven’t even seen or heard about. We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before.” Trump’s long obsessions with strongmen leaders — and Kim in particular — comes through in the interviews. Throughout their conversations, Trump repeats the false claim that former president Barack Obama tried 11 times to reach Kim with no success. Woodward points out that Trump’s own military advisers have warned him that Kim “lies through his teeth to you,” and that Obama made no attempts to speak with Kim himself. “Kim Jong Un gave you bad information on that,” Woodward tells Trump at one point. “I don’t think that’s true.” But Trump is not persuaded, choosing to believe Kim over his own advisers. “Obama called 11 times,” Trump insists. “They showed me the records in Korea. I’m very close to this man. Very close.” In a later interview, Trump boasts that he averted a war with North Korea, again repeating his false claim about Obama and choosing to believe Kim over his own military team: “Obama wanted, 11 times he tried,” Trump says. “Kim Jong Un told me. Eleven times.” Elahe Izadi contributed to this report. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
New Woodward Audiobook Shows Trump Knew Kim Letters Were Classified
How One Of Switzerlands Oldest Banks Became A Meme Stock
How One Of Switzerlands Oldest Banks Became A Meme Stock
How One Of Switzerland’s Oldest Banks Became A Meme Stock https://digitalalaskanews.com/how-one-of-switzerlands-oldest-banks-became-a-meme-stock/ “Credit Suisse is probably going bankrupt.” It was Saturday, Oct. 1, and Jim Lewis, who frequently posts on Twitter under the moniker Wall Street Silver, made that assertion to his more than 300,000 followers. “Markets are saying it’s insolvent and probably bust. 2008 moment soon?” Mr. Lewis was among hundreds of people — many of them amateur investors — who had been speculating about the fate of Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank. It was in the middle of a restructuring and had become an easy target after decades of scandals, failed attempts at reform and management upheavals. There seemed to be no immediate provocation for Mr. Lewis’s weekend tweet other than a memo that Ulrich Körner, the chief executive of Credit Suisse, had sent employees the day before, reassuring them that the bank was in good financial health. But the tweet, which has been liked more than 11,000 times and retweeted more than 3,000 times, was one of many that helped ignite a firestorm on social media forums like Twitter and Reddit. The rumor that Credit Suisse was in trouble ricocheted around the world, stumping bank executives and forcing them to call shareholders, trading partners and analysts to reassure them that everything was fine before markets reopened on Monday. Reached via private message on Twitter, Mr. Lewis said all he had looked at before sending out his tweet was Credit Suisse’s “low stock price and memes on Reddit.” A storied institution had become a meme stock. The same day Mr. Lewis tweeted that the bank might go bankrupt, Hunter Kikut tweeted: “High likelihood of Credit Suisse going bust. Will be shorting on Monday.” Mr. Kikut, a 22-year-old living in Charlotte, N.C., doesn’t recall if he saw Mr. Lewis’s tweet, but a post by Unusual Whales — which bills itself as a trading service that “empowers the retail investor” — caught his eye. “Twitter was the reason I found out about it,” Mr. Kikut said in an interview. “It was one weekend, it just like blew up. I started looking into it.” After U.S. markets opened on Monday, Oct. 3, Mr. Kikut began shorting the stock of Credit Suisse — or betting that the share price would fall. That morning, the bank’s shares plunged nearly 6 percent, shaving about $600 million off its market capitalization and temporarily dragging down a stock whose value had already fallen by more than half since the beginning of the year. As fear spread among professional investors that something might be going on, the cost of insuring Credit Suisse’s debt against default skyrocketed. It wasn’t the first time individual investors, banding together on social media, had moved a company’s stock price so significantly. Last year, they acted in concert to prop up the shares of GameStop, the video game retailer, determined to outsmart hedge funds that had bet the company’s shares would fall. Our Coverage of the Investment World The decline of the stock and bond markets this year has been painful, and it remains difficult to predict what is in store for the future. A Bad Year for Bonds: This has been the most devastating time for bonds since at least 1926 — and maybe in centuries. But much of the damage is already behind us. Discordant Views: Some investors just don’t see how the Federal Reserve can lower inflation without risking high unemployment. The Fed appears more optimistic. Weathering the Storm: The rout in the stock and bond markets has been especially rough on people paying for college, retirement or a new home. Here is some advice. College Savings: As the stock and bond markets wobble, 529 plans are taking a tumble. What’s a family to do? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but you have options. But what started as a spontaneous effort to take down Wall Street has since become an established presence in the market. Millions of amateur investors have embraced trading, including more sophisticated strategies such as shorting. As the Credit Suisse incident shows, their actions highlight a new source of peril for troubled companies. Founded in Switzerland in 1856 to help finance the expansion of railroads in the tiny European nation, Credit Suisse has two main units — a private wealth management business and an investment bank. However, the bank has often struggled to maintain a pristine reputation. It has been the repository of funds from businesspeople who are under sanctions, human rights abusers and intelligence officials. The U.S. government has fined it billions of dollars for its role in helping Americans file false tax returns, marketing mortgage-backed securities tied to the 2008 financial crisis and helping customers in Iran, Sudan and elsewhere breach U.S. sanctions. In the United States, Credit Suisse built its investment banking business through acquisitions, starting with the 1990 purchase of First Boston. But without a core focus, the bank — whose top bosses sit in Switzerland — has often allowed mavericks to pursue new revenue streams and take outsize risks without adequate supervision. Image Bill Hwang, whose trading firm, Archegos Capital Management, imploded last year, was arrested on securities fraud charges in April. Credit…Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times Its most recent troubles started in the spring of 2021 when Archegos Capital Management collapsed. Credit Suisse was one of many Wall Street banks that traded with Archegos, the private investment firm of Bill Hwang, a former star money manager. Yet it lost $5.5 billion, far more than its rivals. The bank later admitted that a “fundamental failure of management and controls” had led to the debacle. Frequent turnover at the bank’s highest levels hasn’t helped. In 2015, the bank hired Tidjane Thiam as its chief executive. Mr. Thiam, a former McKinsey consultant, shored up the bank’s stock price and profitability largely through cost cutting, according to five people familiar with his decision making. He let go of senior risk managers and underinvested in new trading systems, the people said. Mr. Thiam left in early 2020 after a scandal involving surveillance of Credit Suisse executives under his watch. He left the bank in a stable and profitable condition and invested appropriately across its various divisions, his spokesman, Andy Smith, said. Credit Suisse replaced Mr. Thiam with Thomas Gottstein, a longtime bank executive. When Archegos collapsed, the bank kept Mr. Gottstein on the job, but he started working with a new chairman, António Horta-Osório, who had been appointed a few months earlier to restructure the bank. Image Tidjane Thiam left Credit Suisse in 2020. He raised the bank’s profitability during his five years as chief executive.Credit…Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg In January this year, Mr. Horta-Osório abruptly resigned after an inquiry into whether he had broken quarantine rules during the pandemic. But he made swift changes in his short tenure. To reduce risk taking, Mr. Horta-Osório said, the bank would close most of its prime brokerage businesses, which involve lending to big trading firms like Archegos. Credit Suisse also lost a big source of revenue as the market for special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, cooled. By July, Credit Suisse had announced its third consecutive quarterly loss. Mr. Gottstein was replaced by Mr. Körner, a veteran of the rival Swiss bank UBS. Mr. Körner and the chairman, Axel Lehmann, who replaced Mr. Horta-Osório, are expected to unveil a new restructuring plan on Oct. 27 in an effort to convince investors of the bank’s long-term viability and profitability. The stock of Credit Suisse has dipped so much in the past year that its market value — which stood around $12 billion — is comparable to that of a regional U.S. bank, smaller than Fifth Third or Citizens Financial Group. Under the plan being discussed, Credit Suisse will sell or spin off some units, three people familiar with the company’s plans said. Image Ulrich Körner, Credit Suisse’s chief executive.Credit…Credit Suisse/Via Reuters Image Axel Lehmann, the bank’s chairman.Credit…Credit Suisse, via Associated Press The private wealth division would stand on its own. The investment bank would be spun off, and senior bankers would get a stake in the new entity, which would take on the First Boston name, the people said. The bank has pitched investors — including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — about investing several billion dollars to support the spun-off bank, two people familiar with the discussions said. Credit Suisse is also seeking buyers for its securitized products business, the division that creates products to finance residential mortgages, commercial real estate and other asset purchases, three people familiar with those discussions said. Kevin Foster, a spokesman for the Saudi Arabian fund, declined to comment. “In the current market, selling any business is tricky, and everyone knows Credit Suisse are forced sellers,” said Johann Scholtz, an analyst who covers the bank for Morningstar. “Many of the topics referenced in this story are legacy matters,” Candice Sun, a Credit Suisse spokeswoman, said in a statement. Even as Credit Suisse was struggling to fix itself, a new phenomenon had rocked the financial markets. Retail investors, many of them stuck at home during pandemic lockdowns and flush with extra cash from stimulus payments and savings, began talking to one another on social media. Their greatest triumph: buying up shares of GameStop to squeeze a hedge fund that had bet the shares of the company would fall. Exhilarated by their success, some amateur investors looked for other targets, developing their own governing myths and codes along the way. A favorite online hangout was Reddit, and forums like WallStreetBets, where people shared ideas and banter about investing. Some of them eventually turned their atten...
·digitalalaskanews.com·
How One Of Switzerlands Oldest Banks Became A Meme Stock
German Cybersecurity Chief Fired Over Alleged Russia Ties DW 10/18/2022
German Cybersecurity Chief Fired Over Alleged Russia Ties DW 10/18/2022
German Cybersecurity Chief Fired Over Alleged Russia Ties – DW – 10/18/2022 https://digitalalaskanews.com/german-cybersecurity-chief-fired-over-alleged-russia-ties-dw-10-18-2022/ German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Tuesday dismissed the head of the BSI national cybersecurity agency, Arne Schönbohm. Schönbohm was removed from his role as head of the BSI national cybersecurity agency after media reported that he had links with people involved with Russian intelligence services. What do we know about the dismissal? The sacking was first reported by the news magazine, Spiegel, and later confirmed by an Interior Ministry spokesperson.  “The background to this is not least the allegations, which are well known and widely discussed in the media, and which have permanently damaged the necessary public confidence in the neutrality and impartiality of the conduct of his office as president of Germany’s most important cybersecurity authority,” the spokesperson said. There was no initial indication on who would succeed the 53-year-old, who was head of the BSI since February 2016. Alleged Russia ties  Faeser was reportedly concerned about Schönbohm’s continued contact with an association called the Cyber Security Council of Germany. A scheduled joint appearance by Schönbohm and the  interior minister — to report on the German cyber security in 2022 — was last week canceled while the ministry sought the clarify the allegations.   NAFO turns the tables on Russian propaganda To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video It’s thought that the attendance of Schönbohm at the group’s anniversary celebrations last month brought matters to a head.  The cyber chief helped set up the group — which brings together experts from public institutions and the private sector — just over 10 years ago. It advises companies, politicians and authorities on cybersecurity and describes itself as politically neutral. However, the organization came under fire after Russia launched its war in Ukraine over the connection of one of its members to the Kremlin. The cybersecurity company, Protelion, which was the major focus of concern, was ejected from the Council last weekend.  Until March, the firm was named Infotecs and was a subsidiary to its Russian namesake. It was reportedly established by a former member of the Russian intelligence services who was honored by President Vladimir Putin. rc/wmr (dpa, Reuters) Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
German Cybersecurity Chief Fired Over Alleged Russia Ties DW 10/18/2022
Virginia Fink 79 Fairview MT
Virginia Fink 79 Fairview MT
Virginia Fink, 79, Fairview, MT https://digitalalaskanews.com/virginia-fink-79-fairview-mt/ Mass of the Christian Burial for Virginia Fink, 79. Fairview, MT was held at 10 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, at St. Catherine’s Catholic Church. Fairview, MT with Fr. Jim O’Neil as presider. Wake services was at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022, at St. Catherine’s Catholic Church, Fairview, MT. Inurnment was in Fairview Cemetery, Fairview, ND under the care of Fulkerson-Stevenson Funeral Home, Sidney, MT. Remembrances, condolences, and pictures may be shared with the family at http://www.fulkersons.com. Virginia Ann (Baxter) Fink passed away peacefully into the loving arms of Jesus surrounded by her family in Sidney, MT on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. She was born in Fairview, MT the 3rd child to Cecil and Bertha Baxter on April 26, 1943. Virginia attended grades 1-3 at the Nohly School and grades 4-8 in Fairview, before graduating from Lambert High School in 1961. On July 1, 1961, she married Joe Fink, also of Lambert, at St. Philomena’s Church, Sidney. Their ceremony was performed by Father Ned Schinnick, which was one of the first weddings he performed after moving to Sidney. Virginia and Joe lived in Lambert until 1970, when they moved to Fairview, and she worked for several years at the Sears catalog store in Sidney while they raised their family. After Joe’s retirement in 1998, they enjoyed taking yearly trips including five cruises, a bus tour through Italy, and three trips to Hawaii, which was her favorite. One of Virginia’s passions was quilting. She made quilts for each of her children and grandchildren and made several that she donated to cancer survivors and fundraisers. Her love for God was a strength to all who knew her. She was very active in her Bible study group and served as a lay pastor at St. Catherine’s Church, Fairview, assisting with sermons and the Grief Ministry. She is survived by her husband Joe, Fairview, MT; children Gene (Marlene) Fink, Fairview, MT, Kent (Jody) Fink, Aztec, NM, Doug Fink, Fairview, MT, Kandyse (Mark) Whitney, Beaverton, OR, Scott Fink, Beaverton, OR, Lisha (Steve) Lutke, Park City, MT, and Kurt (Michelle) Fink, Russellville, AL; grandchildren Dustin Fink, Glendive, MT, Travis (Jamie) Fink, Billings, MT, Megan (Devyn) Lutke, Laurel, MT, Jace Lutke, Billings, MT, John (Karen) Unruh, Glendive, MT, and Jacob (Lois) Unruh, Fairview, MT; great-grandchildren Andrew Truax, Glendive, MT, Cole and Parker Fink, Billings, MT, Emily, Kaitlyn, Rylee, and Wyatt Unruh, Glendive, MT, Jacob Jr., Cameron, and Taylor Unruh, Fairview, MT; and brother Colin (MaryAnn) Baxter, Anchorage, AK. Virginia was preceded in death by her parents, Cecil and Bertha (Freeman) Baxter, Fairview, MT and her sisters Thelma Young, Shawmut, MT and Barbara (Ralph) Hafemann, Crane, MT. The family would like to thank the nurses and staff members for their care and kindness. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Virginia Fink 79 Fairview MT
The Company Behind Truth Social Fired Its Co-Founder After He Shared Whistleblower Documents With The Washington Post The Publication Reported
The Company Behind Truth Social Fired Its Co-Founder After He Shared Whistleblower Documents With The Washington Post The Publication Reported
The Company Behind Truth Social Fired Its Co-Founder After He Shared Whistleblower Documents With The Washington Post, The Publication Reported https://digitalalaskanews.com/the-company-behind-truth-social-fired-its-co-founder-after-he-shared-whistleblower-documents-with-the-washington-post-the-publication-reported/ The company behind Truth Social fired one of its co-founders, the Washington Post reported. Will Wilkerson shared documents with the Post related to an SEC whistleblower complaint he filed in August. Trump Media fired him last Thursday for sharing “unauthorized disclosures,” per the publication. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you’re on the go. Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of former President Donald Trump’s right-wing social-media platform Truth Social, fired one of its co-founders for sharing information with The Washington Post, the publication reported. Will Wilkerson, who was the company’s senior vice-president of operations, shared documents with The Post related to an SEC whistleblower complaint he filed in August. In the complaint, Wilkerson said that Trump Media had tried to raise money by merging with a special purpose acquisition company using “fraudulent misrepresentations … in violation of federal securities laws.” Wilkerson is cooperating with the SEC and the Southern District of New York’s investigations into the company, his attorneys told The Post for the article, published Saturday. In a subsequent statement sent to Insider, Wilkerson’s lawyers said he remains “committed to assisting investigators.” “I wanted this to succeed more than anything,” Wilkerson told the Washington Post. “But these are glaring issues, and they’re threatening me now for calling them out. I couldn’t stay quiet anymore.” Wilkerson said that when his SEC complaint was first reported by The Miami Herald on October 6, he got a letter from a Trump Media attorney that night, suspending him for a “blatant violation” of his nondisclosure agreement. On Thursday, Trump Media dismissed Wilkerson, attributing the move to “unauthorized disclosures” he made to The Post, the publication reported. Trump said early in 2021 that he was creating his own social-media app after Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube barred him following the Capitol siege on January 6, 2021. Trump has repeatedly criticized the platforms for removing his accounts and accused them of violating his First Amendment rights. Truth Social has been plagued by problems since Trump first announced its development in October 2021. Within hours, hackers claiming affiliation with the group Anonymous created a fake account for Trump, on which they posted a picture of a defecating pig. The hackers also created fake accounts for his former aide Steve Bannon, conspiracy theorist Ron Watkins, and then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Its launch in February was dogged by technical difficulties, and since then, executives including a technology chief and a head of product development have resigned, Reuters reported. A buyout deal between Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, and Truth Social was first announced in October 2021, and was originally set to close in September 2022. The deal has been delayed, something which Trump Media blames on the SEC postponing a review into the merger. Digital World said investors were pulling $138.5 million of the roughly $1 billion the company had secured for the deal. Among the allegations in Wilkerson’s SEC filing was his belief that Trump retaliated against another co-founder for refusing to give some of his Trump Media shares to Trump’s wife. The SEC complaint says that Trump got a 90% stake in the company when it was founded. Wilkerson said that fellow co-founder Andy Litinsky got a call from Trump in October 2021, asking him to give some of his shares to Melania Trump. Litinsky was reluctant, Wilkinson told The Post. Litinsky was removed from the company’s board five months later, which Wilkerson claims was retaliation after Litinsky refused to transfer shares to Melania. The Post viewed an email shared by Wilkerson and his attorneys in which Litinsky said that Trump was “retaliating against me.” A spokesperson for Trump Media told Insider that The Post’s article was “rife with knowingly false and defamatory statements and other concocted psychodramas.” They said that Truth Social had launched on the Apple, Google, and Samsung Galaxy app stores, attracted millions of users, and expanded to the UK. The spokesperson did not specifically respond to Insider’s question about whether Wilkerson had been fired. “Trump Media’s termination of the whistleblower after the company was contacted for comment by the Washington Post is patent retaliation against a SEC whistleblower of the worst kind,” the statement from Wilkerson’s lawyers said. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
The Company Behind Truth Social Fired Its Co-Founder After He Shared Whistleblower Documents With The Washington Post The Publication Reported
Froma Harrop: Yankee Ingenuity: Ukraine
Froma Harrop: Yankee Ingenuity: Ukraine
Froma Harrop: Yankee Ingenuity: Ukraine https://digitalalaskanews.com/froma-harrop-yankee-ingenuity-ukraine/ We can well understand Joe Kent’s grief over the death of his wife. Shannon was a Navy cryptologic technician who tragically died in a suicide bombing in Syria. But as a candidate for a House seat in Washington state, Kent is using his loss as some strange kind of cover for spreading the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. In doing so, the CIA paramilitary officer is simultaneously betraying his country and disrespecting his late wife’s courage and sacrifice. “She was there,” Kent complains, “because unelected bureaucrats decided to slow-roll” Donald Trump’s withdrawal orders. Wrong and wrong. Shannon was there because she was a soldier who signed up for a dangerous mission. As president, Trump was commander in chief. He could have insisted that his orders were followed — though, thankfully, they were not. An immediate withdrawal would have been catastrophic, according to Trump’s own Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. Veterans used to be widely regarded as model candidates for their tendency toward bipartisanship and preference for just getting things done. Some still are. But there’s now a breed of veteran candidate who has gone beyond a healthy skepticism of military interventions and sees himself as a foot soldier in the far right’s efforts to overthrow the democracy. Like Kent, they wallow in self-dramatization. Lost in the discussion is that people who join the military or security services do so voluntarily. There is no draft. They serve the country for a variety of reasons, one being patriotism. A very close relative of mine worked for the CIA in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He suffered greatly after losing several close friends in the 2009 suicide bombing attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan. But he knew why they — and he — were there. A former Navy SEAL who saw five deployments, Eli Crane is the real thing as a brave warrior. But now running for the House seat in Arizona, he’s pushing the tawdry lie that Trump won the 2020 election. Arizona is the state that brought us Sen. John McCain, an exemplary conservative who had undergone years of torture as a prisoner in North Vietnam. To this day, I will not understand the far right’s continued worship of Trump after Captain Bone Spurs attacked McCain’s heroism, famously saying, “I like people who weren’t captured.” Don Bolduc is a retired brigadier general vying for the Senate seat in New Hampshire held by Maggie Hassan. He signed a letter early on asserting that Trump had won the election. Then, 36 hours after winning the primary, he told Fox News that “the election was not stolen.” In addition to being a political coward, Bolduc is nuts. Yes, he did call New Hampshire’s Republican Gov. Chris Sununu a “Chinese-communist sympathizer.” Here are some theories on how these candidates got to their crazy place: The Trumpian right surrounds them with what they perceive as love. They may be a Rambo outside but snowflake inside who melts at the thought that their side lost an election. Some may not be bright, while others have no trouble selling their souls for pats on the head. And they take a most unsavory pleasure in turning on generals deemed insufficiently servile to Trump. Kent has called for criminal charges against Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. (As bonus freakiness, he wants Dr. Anthony Fauci charged with murder over the “scam that is COVID” and calls the vaccine a form of “experimental gene therapy.”) OK. Any liar or head case who would discard the people’s vote in service to an authoritarian — or anything else — qualifies for a dishonorable discharge from consideration for elected office. It’s time for the voters to intervene. Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Froma Harrop: Yankee Ingenuity: Ukraine
Trump Praises Ye For Being really Nice To Me During Tucker Carlson Interview
Trump Praises Ye For Being really Nice To Me During Tucker Carlson Interview
Trump Praises Ye For Being ‘really Nice To Me’ During Tucker Carlson Interview https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-praises-ye-for-being-really-nice-to-me-during-tucker-carlson-interview/ Kanye West arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Feb. 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Former President Trump says he enjoyed rapper Ye’s recent sit-down interview with Tucker Carlson, the top rated primetime host on Fox News. Trump was pressed this week by radio host Larry O’Connor about recent anti-Semitic comments the rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, has made online and in other media appearances. “He’s been saying some really offensive things lately about your own son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and about Jewish people, Jewish Americans writ large. Could you react to that? Because is this the guy that you knew?” the radio host asked Trump. “Well, I haven’t really seen the statements he’s made. I did watch the Tucker Carlson interview and he was really nice to me. Beyond anybody, he was … he was great to me, and to the MAGA movement, which was really impressive,” the former president said in response. Last week, Ye sat with Carlson for an extensive interview during which he made several controversial comments including sharing his belief that Kushner’s Middle East initiatives during Trump’s time in office were intended to make him money. In separate portions of the interview, which Fox did not air but were obtained by Vice, the rapper and fashion designer spoke of “fake children” infiltrating his home. Ye made headlines on Monday when he announced he had purchased Parler, the small social media side heralded by some conservatives as an alternative to traditional social media platforms. Tags Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Trump Praises Ye For Being really Nice To Me During Tucker Carlson Interview
Lathrop Homer Win State Football Titles
Lathrop Homer Win State Football Titles
Lathrop, Homer Win State Football Titles https://digitalalaskanews.com/lathrop-homer-win-state-football-titles/ By DEREK CLARKSTON sports@kodiakdailymirror.com Oct 18, 2022 14 min ago 0 On a cold day with snow on the field, Lathrop and Homer hoisted trophies after winning high school state football titles Saturday at Service High School in Anchorage. Meanwhile, Juneau and Colony punched tickets to this weekend’s Division I state championship game.  Post a comment as anonymous Welcome to the discussion. Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don’t Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don’t knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the ‘Report’ link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We’d love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reporting—but good journalism isn’t free. Please support us by subscribing or making a contribution. By MAISIE THOMAS Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Apr 4, 2022 1 In Alaska, Covid-19 cases are leveling off after reaching record highs during the Omicron surge, but a new and even more highly contagious variant is on the rise. The BA.2 variant of Omicron now accounts for over 50% of new cases nationally, and just under half of cases in Alaska, state epid… LINDA F. HERSEY Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Apr 1, 2022 0 North Pole Rep. Mike Prax was one of eight lawmakers diagnosed with Covid-19 Wednesday in an outbreak that has swept through the Alaska House. By LIV CLIFFORD Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Mar 31, 2022 0 Alaskans lost more than $13 million to suspected internet crimes in 2021, federal data shows. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Lathrop Homer Win State Football Titles
Iranian Schoolgirl beaten To Death For Refusing To Sing Pro-Regime Anthem
Iranian Schoolgirl beaten To Death For Refusing To Sing Pro-Regime Anthem
Iranian Schoolgirl ‘beaten To Death For Refusing To Sing’ Pro-Regime Anthem https://digitalalaskanews.com/iranian-schoolgirl-beaten-to-death-for-refusing-to-sing-pro-regime-anthem/ Another schoolgirl has reportedly been killed by the Iranian security services after she was beaten in her classroom for refusing to sing a pro-regime song when her school was raided last week, sparking further protests across the country this weekend. According to the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, 16-year-old Asra Panahi died after security forces raided the Shahed girls high school in Ardabil on 13 October and demanded a group of girls sing an anthem that praises Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. When they refused, security forces beat the pupils, leading to a number of girls being taken to hospital and others arrested. On Friday, Panahi reportedly died in hospital of injuries sustained at the school. Iranian officials denied that its security forces were responsible and, after her death sparked outrage across the country, a man identified as her uncle appeared on state TV channels claiming she had died from a congenital heart condition. Schoolgirls have emerged as a powerful force after videos went viral of classrooms of pupils waving their hijabs in the air, taking down pictures of Iran’s supreme leaders and shouting anti-regime slogans in support of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died after being detained by Iran’s morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly in August. The Iranian authorities responded by launching a series of raids on schools across the country last week, with reports of officers forcing their way into classrooms, violently arresting schoolgirls and pushing them into waiting cars, and firing teargas into school buildings. In a statement posted on Sunday, Iran’s teachers’ union condemned the “brutal and inhumane” raids and called for the resignation of the education minister, Yousef Nouri. An Iranian student after daubing a map of Iran on a wall with handprints, allegedly at a sit-in protest at the Art University of Isfahan over the weekend. Photograph: UGC/AFP/Getty Images News of Panahi’s death has further mobilised schoolgirls across the country to organise and join protests over the weekend. Among them was 16-year-old Naznin*, whose parents had kept her at home for fear that she would be arrested for protesting at her school. “I haven’t been allowed to go to the school because my parents fear for my life. But what has it changed? The regime continues to kill and arrest schoolgirls,” says Naznin. “What good am I if I simply sit outraged at home? Myself and fellow students across Iran have decided to stand in protest on the streets this week. I’ll do it even if I have to now hide it from my parents.” 19-year-old Nergis* also joined the protests, and was hit by rubber bullets in her back and legs. She says Panahi’s death has motivated her and her friends to continue to protest, despite the danger. She says what happened to Panahi – as well as the deaths of two other schoolgirls, 17-year-old Nika Shahkarami and 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh, both at the hands of the Iranian security forces – has united young people across Iran under a common cause. “I don’t have a single relative in Ardabil, but with this brutal crackdown on our sisters, who were just 16 years old, they’ve awakened the whole nation,” she says. “We never knew we were so united – across the Baloch regions as well as the Kurdish regions. The world has heard about Nika, Sarina and Asra, but there are so many other nameless children who we know nothing about. “It’s not just Asra’s death,” she says. “The Islamic Republic has been killing our people for 40 years, but our voices weren’t heard. Let the world know this is no longer a protest – we are calling for a revolution. Now that you’re all listening to our voices, we will not stop.” According to the latest report by the Iran Human Rights group, 215 people, including 27 children, have been killed in the nationwide protests, as of 17 October. *Names have been changed Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Iranian Schoolgirl beaten To Death For Refusing To Sing Pro-Regime Anthem
Subway Dispute Over Dropped Phone Turns Deadly In Queens
Subway Dispute Over Dropped Phone Turns Deadly In Queens
Subway Dispute Over Dropped Phone Turns Deadly In Queens https://digitalalaskanews.com/subway-dispute-over-dropped-phone-turns-deadly-in-queens/ JACKSON HEIGHTS, Queens (WABC) — A 50-year-old man is in custody after a fight with another subway rider ended with that man fatally struck by a train in Elmhurst, Queens. The suspect was standing near the platform of the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave. station at around 4:45 p.m. Monday when 48-year-old Heriberto Quintana bumped into him while walking by. The contact sent the suspect’s cell phone tumbling onto the subway tracks. The suspect told the victim to go get his phone. He refused, and the two began arguing in Spanish. Pushing and shoving and a fight ensued, culminating with the victim falling to the subway tracks, where he was struck by an F train leaving the station. Quintana, of Queens, was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital. Charges against the 50-year-old suspect are pending. It was the ninth killing in the city’s subway system this year, and the 10th in transit. NY Congressman Lee Zeldin, who is running for governor, used this latest subway attack as a backdrop to outline his plan to deal with crime. Zeldin and his running mate, Alison Esposito, who is a veteran of the NYPD, appeared outside the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave. station to demand change. Incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul says she’s been “laser-focused” on fighting crime since Day One. ALSO READ | Eyewitness News gets exclusive ride-along with NYPD commissioner amid fear over subway crime ———- * More Queens news * Send us a news tip * Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts * Follow us on YouTube Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply. Copyright © 2022 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Subway Dispute Over Dropped Phone Turns Deadly In Queens
The Story Of Henrietta Lacks And The Uniqueness Of HeLa Cells
The Story Of Henrietta Lacks And The Uniqueness Of HeLa Cells
The Story Of Henrietta Lacks And The Uniqueness Of HeLa Cells https://digitalalaskanews.com/the-story-of-henrietta-lacks-and-the-uniqueness-of-hela-cells/ In the past century, Henrietta Lacks has, arguably, done more to advance medicine than any other person. She played a material role in the development of polio vaccines, cancer treatments, HPV vaccines, and mapping the human genome. This young Black woman died from cervical cancer in 1951. It was cells taken during her cancer treatment that became one of the most powerful research tools ever, but she did not know about or give permission for their retrieval. What can we learn from such wrongs committed in the name of science? Henrietta Lacks (pictured above) never knew that her cells would come to revolutionize medicine. Design by Medical News Today; photograph Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo. In January 1951, a few months after giving birth to her fifth child, Henrietta Lacks, a 30-year-old Black woman, became concerned about a lump on her . This, and unexplained vaginal bleeding, led her to seek medical attention. She went to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, the only hospital in the area that would provide treatment to Black people at that time. Doctors there diagnosed a particularly aggressive form of cervical cancer. She did not tell her husband or family, informing them only that she had to go to the doctor for medicine. The standard treatment at the time was radium therapy. During her first treatment, under sedation, the surgeon took a tissue sample from her tumor. He passed this on to the head of tissue culture research at Johns Hopkins, . “When Henrietta Lacks sought care at Johns Hopkins University — one of the few segregated hospitals to serve Black patients in Baltimore, MD, at the time — a biopsy of her cervical cells was extracted to diagnose her cervical cancer. The original doctor did not keep her sample for his own research but immediately shared it broadly with the larger scientific community. In 1951, the informed consent process as we now know it did not exist to protect patient privacy, rights or govern scientific and clinical research.” – Dr. Maranda C. Ward, assistant professor and director of Equity, Department of Clinical Research and Leadership, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University Taking cell samples for research was routine practice at the time, and doctors rarely asked patients for consent. As a result, most patients were, like Henrietta, completely unaware of what would happen to their cells. The cells that doctors took from Henrietta’s tumor were then placed in a culture medium, labeled “HeLa” to identify them. The researchers expected that, like most cell samples, they would multiply a few times, then die. After her first treatment, doctors discharged Henrietta from the hospital, and she went back to work in the tobacco fields, oblivious to the fact that doctors had taken her cells for research purposes. In the lab, the HeLa cells not only remained alive, but multiplied at an astonishing rate. Dr. Gey informed colleagues that his lab had grown the first immortal cell line, and shared samples of HeLa cells with them. “What was done to her, the reuse of her information, the attaching of her name to the cells — the HeLa cells are named after her — that’s a massive violation of her privacy. All of those practices are of a bygone era where consent and privacy were just not taken as seriously or even thought about at all.” – Dr. Sean Valles, director and associate professor, Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, Michigan State University Although Henrietta’s initial treatment led to the tumor shrinking, by September, her cancer had spread to many of her internal organs. Henrietta Lacks died, aged just 31, on October 4, 1951, unaware that she had unwittingly left behind an extraordinary legacy. Some 70 years on, the cell line from the original HeLa cells is still proliferating. In that time, more than 11,000 research publications have involved HeLa cells. In 1953, from Tuskegee University cultured HeLa cells, and mass-produced them for use throughout the United States in the development of the first successful . Later in the 1950s, researchers used the cells to investigate the , and to develop a method, still used today, of . Cells from the HeLa line have also been sent into space, used to investigate the effects of space travel and radiation on human cells, used to determine how , to investigate blood disorders, to advance , and in unraveling the secrets of the human genome. Only some of the research stated that HeLa cells had been used. Most pertinently, given that Henrietta Lacks died from cervical cancer, HeLa cells were vital in discovering how , and in the development of the vaccine against HPV. It is particularly troubling that, as Dr. Valles stated: “In the U.S., Black women have especially poor outcomes with cervical cancer, because that’s why she went to the hospital in the first place. They’re seeing the doctor, but they’re not getting treated in a timely way.” , an author on the HPV study, went on to win the 2008 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on viruses and cancer. This was just the first of three Nobel prizes from research using HeLa cells, the others being for research on telomeres in 2009, and live viewing of cellular growth in 2014. Unlike almost all other cell samples, HeLa cells continued to replicate in cell culture and the line has survived for more than 70 years. So what was it about these cancer cells that made them so powerful? Although scientists do not fully understand what gives HeLa cells their unique properties, research has shown that there are three ways in which HeLa cells are different from normal human cells: HeLa cells have 76 to 80 chromosomes, whereas normal human cells have 46. This is a result of infection with HPV which causes errors in the genome to accumulate as uncontrolled division occurs. HeLa cells than most cancer cells, so if they contaminate other cell cultures they overtake them. Researchers attribute this to the fact that Henrietta Lacks also had syphilis, which weakens the immune system and allows cancers to grow aggressively. HeLa cells can divide an infinite number of times as their regrow after each division. In normal cells, telomeres decrease at each division, leading to cells aging and dying. Whatever the reason, HeLa cells have proved a vital tool in biomedical research. “Henrietta also experienced the untreated effects of syphilis on the birth outcomes of her children before seeking out care for unexplained abdominal pain, which doctors described as impacting her disease prognosis once they identified her cancer. So, racism, gender oppression, and poverty most certainly shaped her life chances and opportunities for health.” – Dr. Maranda Ward Henrietta Lacks’ cells played a material role in work that led to three Nobel prizes and many other scientific discoveries — but they were used and shared without consent from her, or from any member of her family. At the time, permission was neither required, nor sought, for cells to be used for research. This was normal procedure in the 1950s, as Dr. Valles pointed out: “There was non-consensual research happening everywhere, because consent didn’t really matter, but it always happens to be the case that people being burdened by this, people being taken advantage of, disproportionately end up being Black Americans […] something happens, and it works out worse for this population.” “The billion-dollar industry tied to the immortal HeLa cell line is yet another example of how the U.S. has exploited and profited off the bodies of Black people. Once informed consent processes established that obtaining and researching the HeLa cells was unethical because it violated human rights, privacy, and bodily autonomy, its continued use represented a blatant disregard for Henrietta’s humanity, let alone scientific integrity and ethical conduct of research.” – Dr. Maranda Ward For around 25 years, researchers used HeLa cells without any acknowledgment of where they had originated. Then, in 1976, a reporter, Michael Rogers, uncovered the origin of the name HeLa, revealing in Rolling Stone magazine that the cells were from Henrietta Lacks. And it was only then, long after her cells had been shared around the world and played a part in many medical breakthroughs, that her family became aware of what had happened. Some years later, Rebecca Skloot, an investigative journalist, picked up the story. She contacted Henrietta’s family, who were at first reluctant to talk to her. Eventually, she persuaded Henrietta’s youngest daughter, Deborah, to provide personal insight into her mother’s story. Skloot’s book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, was published in 2010, and made into a film in 2017. Following the publication of her book, Rebecca Skloot established the Henrietta Lacks Foundation, with the purpose of “[h]elping individuals who have made important contributions to scientific research without personally benefiting from those contributions, particularly those used in research without their knowledge or consent.” Several of Henrietta Lacks’ descendants have been helped by the foundation — one small step, perhaps, in making reparation for the wrong done to Henrietta Lacks. In the U.S., , instigated in 1981 and updated since, sets out ethical guidelines for biomedical and behavioral research involving humans. Among other issues, it covers compliance, record keeping, and, most importantly, . described the role of informed consent in research as the “[b]asic ethical principle behind informed consent legalities is to protect the autonomy of human subjects which states that welfare and interests of a subject participating into clinical research are always above the society’s interests and welfare. Medical research directed towards t...
·digitalalaskanews.com·
The Story Of Henrietta Lacks And The Uniqueness Of HeLa Cells
First Time Planning An Alaska Trip? Try These Tips
First Time Planning An Alaska Trip? Try These Tips
First Time Planning An Alaska Trip? Try These Tips https://digitalalaskanews.com/first-time-planning-an-alaska-trip-try-these-tips/ The Last Frontier offers Lower 48 anglers – old hands and newbies alike – a dream destination, but fulfilling that bucket list requires plenty of preparation. (CAL KELLOGG) The following appears in the October issue of Alaska Sporting Journal: BY CAL KELLOGG The Land of the Midnight Sun! For many outdoors enthusiasts living in the Lower 48, Alaska is the frontier of possibility. Consider the unspoiled wilderness, snowcapped peaks, big glacial rivers, lakes, bays, inlets, the ocean, the aurora borealis, whales, sea otters, bald eagles, a long list of salmon species, huge lingcod, massive halibut, steelhead, trout, pike, moose, sheep, grizzlies, and more. Growing up hunting and fishing in California, Alaska was my goal; experiencing it was my ambition. I wanted to fish its waters and hunt its mountains, and I figured by the time I’d reached my 50s I’d be a veteran of all things Alaska. Well, I’ve now been to Alaska many times. So far all my trips have been focused on fishing. On many of those trips, I played host to anglers traveling up to Alaska from California. They were folks who had read my work and wanted to fish with me and the captains and outfitters I’d be fishing with. A lot of those visitors were Last Frontier first-timers. From my experience I can tell you that even two dozen trips to Alaska – or even 10 times that number – don’t make you an “Alaska veteran.” The Last Frontier is just too big, too brawling and too diverse to master during your summer vacation. We are talking about a state that is 20 percent of the size of the Lower 48. That’s a lot of country to cover! So you’re planning your first Alaskan fishing trip and are super excited, but you also don’t know what to expect, what to do and what to avoid. I can help, because I’ve been right where you are right now. I’ve made my share of mistakes. When I went to Alaska the first time, one of the mistakes I made was buying over $1,000 in tackle and using next to none of it! In fact, some of it is still squirreled away in my garage in the original packaging. So I’ve learned some lessons. Consider some of the following caveats to have the perfect experience. “Endless mountains, endless water and endless possibilities, Alaska is a dreeam destination for many outdoors enthusiasts living in the Lower 48,” writes author Cal Kellogg, who is based in California. (CAL KELLOGG) WHAT TO EXPECT Expectations are a good place to begin. Here in the Lower 48 we envision Alaska as a sort of fishing nirvana. A place with rivers full of salmon, clouds of rockfish and halibut, and lakes where the trout have never seen a hook. All this is true, but you’ve got to remember that Alaskan fish are just like fish anywhere else. When they bite, you can catch them. When they don’t want to go or when the weather doesn’t cooperate, you can get skunked in Alaska just like you can at your local lake or river. And then there are the salmon … Everyone I’ve ever taken to Alaska anticipated wide-open fishing and limits every day; enjoying barn-burner salmon fishing is what makes Alaska so coveted by those wanting to fish there. The silvers here, the sockeye there, a few humpies, and a king or two checking in at over 40 pounds … But the first thing to realize is that salmon move around. There are salmon runs. When they are running, you can catch them. Heck, you can catch a lot of them. But the flip side is true. If there are no salmon present, they are darn hard to hook. This is Alaskan salmon fishing rule No. 1. The last time I was in Alaska I was on a boat with five other anglers. We were heading back in from the lingcod grounds when we spotted a grind of sea birds. The skipper eased in, we tossed out jigs and 20 minutes later we had full limits of 18 silver salmon to 13 pounds, plus a handsome bycatch of black rockfish up to about 9 pounds. Sounds great, right? Well, it was, but I’ve fished the same area at the same time of the year and never saw a silver the entire time. Every year is different. Dare I repeat rule No. 1: To catch salmon, they have to be present. There are also special regulations on salmon. I remember one day fishing from a jet boat on the Kenai. The plan was to throw spinners for river-run silvers. We got a few, but I led off the trip with 40-plus-pound kings on back-to- back casts. The king season was closed and the closure was so serious that we couldn’t even remove those fish from the water for a photo before releasing them. Therefore, rule No. 2 about Alaskan salmon fishing is that the season has to be open for the type of salmon that ends up on your line! By the way, as long as we are talking about salmon, do you know what native Alaskans’ favorite salmon species is? It’s not silvers or kings. It’s the sockeye, or as they are called up north, “reds.” Sockeye are hands down the best- eating Alaskan salmon and they exist in prolific numbers. If you want good eating and lots of fun, plan your trip when the sockeye are running! Interestingly, the bigger the river, the bigger the sockeye that inhabit it. On small creeks, I’ve enjoyed action on 3- to 6-pounders, but on the large Kenai River those salmon run from 6 to 11 pounds. If I were looking for sockeye and I wanted to bring salmon meat home, I’d focus my efforts on big water and the bigger-model reds that inhabit those larger rivers. Most outfitters provide all the tackle needed to hook up when fishing Alaskan waters. The author learned this the hard way on his first trip north, for which he spent about $1,000 on gear and barely used any of it. (CAL KELLOGG) INFORMATION IS POWER I wouldn’t advise you to visit Alaska for the first time on your own. You’ll have a better experience in the hands of a quality lodge or knowledgeable outfitter. They’re a great way to get your feet wet and set yourself up for success should you decide to strike out on your own adventure in the future. You’ll want to chat with several different operations before you put down your money. What do you want to do? Do you want to fish the Interior from a bush plane? Is river salmon fishing your goal? Are you interested in saltwater fishing? Once you’ve found a business that seems to be a good fit, put down your deposit and keep on asking questions. Most outfitters will provide you with a fact sheet, but questions to sort out include: How does dining work? Do you need tackle? How does transportation to and from the lodge work? What’s included and what’s not included? Do you need waders and raingear? How do you bring your catch home? Most places I’ve visited provide waders and clothing for inclement weather, but I still bring my own. I have size 15 feet, so I ensure success by bringing my own waders and/or rubber boots. I take the same approach with wet weather gear. Sorting out how lodging works is a great question that often slips through the cracks. If you go alone or with a partner, will you have a private room or is a dorm-type situation in effect? I’ve seen trips ruined when two strangers were paired in a room and one of them turned out to be a big-time snorer. Bright fish and bright smiles are why many come to the Last Frontier, which can offer some of the best saltwater fishing you’ll ever encounter. But Kellogg warns to get the tim- ing right to improve your chances of scoring salmon limits. (CAL KELLOGG) OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA THE WEATHER FACTOR The one thing you can count on when it comes to the weather in Alaska is that it can and will change on a dime. In my experience, fair sunny days are the exception. Most of the time you can expect mild temperatures and periods of rain. Typically it’s not hard winter-type rain. It’s usually gentle off-and-on showers, with a lot of overcast skies. Honestly, one of the things I really like about going to Alaska in July or August is escaping the 100-plus- degree temperatures when I fly out of California’s Sacramento International Airport and arriving to temps in the 60s when I land in Homer or Juneau. With the threat of daily rain and being constantly in and around water, I wouldn’t go to Alaska without a waterproof bag, preferably a backpack, since a pack frees your hands to do other things. That bag is where you’ll keep your phone, cameras, dry clothes and anything else you don’t want soggy and wet. In terms of clothing, comfort is king and generally speaking quality is better than quantity. A couple changes of “field” clothes and a set of comfortable “lounging around the lodge” duds are all you need. Leave the cotton at home. If there was ever a place for those high- tech space age wicking weaves and fleeces, Alaska is it. Think light, dry and windproof. I’d say that 90 percent of the time that I’ve been in Alaska, if I wasn’t wearing waders, I was wearing rubber deck boots. This being the case, I travel with three pairs of quality over-the-calf socks. This way I always have two dry pairs and one drying out. It’s nice to have a set of slippers or rubber clogs to wear around the lodge. This is something a lot of folks overlook in the planning process. Headgear is another area that can slip through the cracks. I’m a ball cap guy, so I typically have one or two of those, but I wouldn’t go north without a beanie. They keep your ears warm and they work well when you have the hood up on your rain jacket and, you know, the sky decides to dump rain as you’re fighting that 125-pound halibut! A river guide filets freshly caught Kenai River sockeye salmon. A big part of plan- ning a fishing trip to Alaska is making sure you can get your fish home on the plane. Fortunately, many outfitters can help get that salmon or halibut packed for you. (CAL KELLOGG) BE A SEA-WORTHY ANGLER As long as we are on the deck fighting halibut, let’s think about motion sickness. If you are going on the ocean or if you are going to be flying in a smal...
·digitalalaskanews.com·
First Time Planning An Alaska Trip? Try These Tips
Amazon Workers In Albany Vote Against Unionization Labor Leader Calls It 'sham Election'
Amazon Workers In Albany Vote Against Unionization Labor Leader Calls It 'sham Election'
Amazon Workers In Albany Vote Against Unionization, Labor Leader Calls It 'sham Election' https://digitalalaskanews.com/amazon-workers-in-albany-vote-against-unionization-labor-leader-calls-it-sham-election/ Amazon workers arrive with paperwork to unionize at the NLRB office in Brooklyn, New York, October 25, 2021. Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters Employees at an Amazon warehouse near Albany overwhelmingly rejected a unionization effort on Tuesday, delivering a blow to an upstart labor union seeking to organize workers at the retail giant. The tally was 206 votes in favor of the union and 406 votes opposed. Officials said 949 workers at the ALB1 warehouse were eligible to vote on whether they should become part of the Amazon Labor Union. Four ballots were voided. The results of the election still need to be certified by the National Labor Relations Board. The results mark the latest setback for the Amazon Labor Union, a grassroots organization of current and former Amazon employees, which had a historic win in April at the JFK8 warehouse on New York’s Staten Island. The group also lost a vote in May at a nearby warehouse on Staten Island. Chris Smalls, president of ALU, said in a statement that the voting process “wasn’t free and fair,” suggesting the union may seek to challenge the election results. Lawyers for the ALU have already filed 27 unfair labor practice charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board. “It was a sham election where workers were subjected to intimidation and retaliation on a daily basis and even the workers who volunteered to be election observers were faced with threats of termination,” Smalls said. Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told CNBC in a statement: “We’re glad that our team in Albany was able to have their voices heard, and that they chose to keep the direct relationship with Amazon as we think that this is the best arrangement for both our employees and customers.” Workers at ALB1 hoped the union would help employees obtain higher wages. Amazon last month bumped up the starting wage at the facility to $17 an hour, up from $15.70 an hour, alongside pay increases for front-line workers across the country. ALB1 organizers have also raised concerns about working conditions, saying the rapid pace of work has led to high injury rates, and caused employee burnout. ALU’s victory at JFK8 was a watershed moment for the labor movement, establishing the first unionized Amazon warehouse in the U.S. But the union has yet to bargain a contract at JFK8, as it remains locked in a legal battle with Amazon, which has argued the results should be thrown out. An NLRB official recently recommended the company’s objections should be rejected. Amazon said it would appeal. Amazon faces an upswing of labor organizing across the country. Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Southern California last week filed a union petition with the hopes of joining the ALU. Amazon workers at facilities in California, Illinois and Georgia recently held walkouts, in time for Amazon’s fall Prime Day discount event, to urge the company to respond to employee concerns around working conditions. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
Amazon Workers In Albany Vote Against Unionization Labor Leader Calls It 'sham Election'
N
N
N https://digitalalaskanews.com/n-98/ Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
N
UNB Investigates How Trumps Ally Got His PhDNews WAALI
UNB Investigates How Trumps Ally Got His PhDNews WAALI
UNB Investigates How Trump’s Ally Got His PhDNews WAALI https://digitalalaskanews.com/unb-investigates-how-trumps-ally-got-his-phdnews-waali/ HALIFAX – A high-profile ally of former US President Donald Trump is at the center of an academic controversy at the University of New Brunswick, where the administration has promised an independent review of his doctorate in 2013. Doug Mastriano, a retired US Army colonel, was a little-known Pennsylvania senator until he took an active role in the movement to reverse Trump’s 2020 election defeat. In May, with Trump’s support, he won the Republican nomination for state governor and catapulted his far-right campaign into the national limelight. On September 9, Mastriano’s academic credentials were questioned by UNB when The Associated Press reported claims by scholars that his doctoral thesis was plagued with factual errors and amateurish archaeology. – Advertisement – Mastriano has not yet publicly responded to the allegations. Calls to its Pennsylvania offices — in Chambersburg and Gettysburg — went unanswered. Richard Yeomans, a graduate student in UNB’s history department, said students on the Fredericton campus wanted to know what the university was doing to maintain its academic standards. – Advertisement – “I think everyone is just shocked by the fact that the department hasn’t said anything since this became international news,” Yeomans said in a recent interview. “The university has chosen to save face rather than come to terms with what that means. A certain level of trust has been violated.” Yeomans said the graduate students raised their concerns with history department chair Lisa Todd. Todd did not respond to an interview request. Earlier this month, the university issued a statement acknowledging that the allegations against Mastriano caused “concern or confusion” among students, alumni and the public. “UNB has a clear policy for dealing with allegations of research misconduct,” the statement said. “UNB will review its internal processes to ensure our systems and policies surrounding the awarding of PhDs continue to meet the highest standards.” The Oct. 6 statement said the review would be conducted by two independent scientists, but gave no indication of a deadline or if the results would be made public. Jeffrey Brown, a history professor at UNB, said he was among the first to raise red flags in 2012-13 over Mastriano’s dissertation, which focused on US Army Sgt. Alvin York, a decorated World War I infantryman. As a member of the review board that reviewed Mastriano’s work, Brown said he caught problems early on. “Subsequent drafts have not eliminated these problems,” Brown said in an interview last week. “It became clear that Mastriano didn’t really take my suggestions seriously.” He said the main problem with Mastriano’s 500-page article was that it relied too heavily on a 1928 autobiography, which has been questioned by other historians as a simplistic portrait glorifying York’s life and battlefield exploits. Brown, who has taught at UNB for 21 years, also cited flaws in an archaeological dig Mastriano conducted in France before enrolling in the PhD program, which Mastriano claimed excavated the site where York defeated an entire German machine gun battalion in October 1918 Professor said two qualified experts came forward in 2008 to dispute Mastriano’s findings. In an internal reviewer’s review filed on February 8, 2013, Brown asked Mastriano to acknowledge that the two researchers — geoscientist Thomas Nolan of Middle Tennessee State University and historian Michael Birdwell of Tennessee Tech University — saw the battlefield at another localized location. “These scientists expressly reject Mastriano’s findings,” the review reads. “Mastriano does not mention this debate in his dissertation.” After Mastriano finally revised his work in April 2013, Brown submitted a letter to dissertation supervisor Marc Milner saying he was considering removing his name from the work. “Doug (Mastriano’s) revisions may have addressed some of the things that bother me about his work, but they have not eased my concerns about its fairness and scholarly integrity,” said the letter, a copy of which was sent to The Canadian Press. “Indeed, the allegation of dishonesty is pervasive in the letters of concern we both received from people who believe Doug’s dissertation should not be accepted by the UNB.” According to Brown, Milner told him that his contribution was no longer required as the review board had enough members to proceed. Brown said he expected his name to be removed from the paper’s final draft, but that didn’t happen. Mastriano received his PhD later that year, and the paper was subsequently used as the basis for a 2014 book by Mastriano. Milner could not be reached for comment. James Gregory, an associate professor and graduate student at the University of Oklahoma, said he became concerned about Mastriano’s work after citing a passage from the book in a 2014 article. Gregory received messages suggesting the material was questionable and decided to take a closer look at the book. In January 2021, Gregory submitted a list of 15 issues he found to the publisher, the University Press of Kentucky. And he followed by requesting the original dissertation from UNB. “No one would tell me where it was,” Gregory said in an interview last week. Eventually, he was told the paper had been embargoed until 2030, which the university later conceded was a violation of UNB regulations, which only provide for a four-year embargo. After the dissertation was published in August of that year, Gregory discovered that Mastriano had included a list of 21 corrections, some of which addressed his original allegations. But after reviewing the dissertation, Gregory this month sent a report to the UNB documenting 213 allegations of academic misconduct. “His dissertation and subsequent book are based on falsified research,” says Gregory’s latest report. As an example, Gregory points to a quotation for a passage that describes in detail the weather conditions in the French Argonne Forests when an investigation into York’s battlefield exploits began. According to Gregory, the source cited is a telegram containing nothing more than a brief itinerary. “The university needs to do something,” said Gregory, author of Unraveling the Myth of Sgt. Alvin York, due out in December. “Either they have to come out and say that Mastriano’s dissertation is a perfect example of the standard we hold up here at the UNB, or they have to do something about it. That shouldn’t have happened under any circumstances.” This report from The Canadian Press was first published on October 18, 2022. — With files from The Associated Press Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
UNB Investigates How Trumps Ally Got His PhDNews WAALI
House Report Exposes Trump's Efforts To Politicize The CDC COVID-19 Guidance
House Report Exposes Trump's Efforts To Politicize The CDC COVID-19 Guidance
House Report Exposes Trump's Efforts To Politicize The CDC, COVID-19 Guidance https://digitalalaskanews.com/house-report-exposes-trumps-efforts-to-politicize-the-cdc-covid-19-guidance/ Donald Trump’s administration underplayed concerns around the significance of the COVID-19 pandemic and watered down reports laying out public health guidance in a bid to advance the former president’s political goals, a new House report has revealed. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on Monday published its latest report, drawing evidence from emails, documents and witness interviews to detail how Trump’s White House sought to “compromise the scientific integrity” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said the administration restricted agency officials from participating in media interviews or briefings, at a time when he thought Americans “should have heard from the public health leaders.” The White House tried to assert control over public guidance on COVID-19, with Trump installing his ally Michael Caputo as assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC’s parent agency. Kate Galatas, a senior communications official at the CDC, told the subcommittee that Caputo acted with the intention of making others “feel threatened.” The subcommittee saw evidence that Caputo blasted Dr. Jay Butler, the CDC’s deputy director of infectious diseases, for being “too alarming” during a June 2020 telebriefing. In a separate instance, Paul Alexander, a senior adviser to Caputo, wrote to CDC officials to attack one of their reports, which he considered contradictory to information that the White House was putting out, and to allege that the agency’s work was hurting the administration, as well as Americans at large. In May 2020, Alexander also edited language in a draft CDC statement regarding the pandemic’s death toll in the U.S. to make it “more positive,” according to an email reviewed by the subcommittee. Redfield also said the administration “compromised” the agency’s COVID-19 guidance in several instances to paint a rosier picture of the pandemic. Trump officials’ efforts to project a better image of the pandemic in the U.S. affected employee morale but also could have put lives in danger, according to the report. Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director at the CDC, told the subcommittee that she believed fewer Americans would have died in the early days of the pandemic if the CDC had been allowed to put out accurate information. Redfield said that he developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of managing the writing process for COVID-19 guidance during his time in office. The report also demonstrated the extent to which Trump’s White House sought to use the CDC’s authority to push its own political agenda. Dr. Martin Cetron, the director of CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, said his department was “handed” an order to justify deporting asylum-seekers arriving at the U.S. border under Title 42, a 1944 public health law that would immediately return them to their countries of origin while also denying them the opportunity to apply for asylum. Redfield was the one to sign the order. President Joe Biden’s administration has tried to lift this policy, but a court has so far blocked it. Cetron also told the subcommittee that the Trump administration was hesitant to issue a mask mandate on public transportation even though the private sector had urged it to do so. Cetron said such rules around masks could have prevented the deaths of many Americans from COVID-19 in 2020. The subcommittee also found that administration officials tried to block the release “of at least 19 different CDC scientific reports that they deemed to be politically harmful to President Trump.” Specifically, Health and Human Services officials manipulated a CDC publication known as the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report to obscure early signs of COVID-19 transmission. House investigators found that the Trump administration also used hundreds of millions of dollars in CDC funds for a campaign, led by Caputo, to “defeat despair and inspire hope” around the pandemic before the 2020 presidential election. Caputo denounced the findings of the report in an interview with CNN on Monday, adding that the subcommittee never approached him for an interview. “I don’t care what they say, or how they say it, whether it’s in a political document written pre-election by the Democrats, which I have zero respect for, or whether it’s in other fashions,” he told CNN. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the chair of the subcommittee, said in a statement Monday that the Trump administration “engaged in an unprecedented campaign of political interference in the federal government’s pandemic response.” “This prioritization of politics, contempt for science, and refusal to follow the advice of public health experts harmed the nation’s ability to respond effectively to the coronavirus crisis and put Americans at risk,” Clyburn said. The South Carolinian said work still remains to “safeguard scientific integrity and restore the American people’s trust in our public health institutions.” The subcommittee has been investigating the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic for over two years. This is its third report to be published. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Read More Here
·digitalalaskanews.com·
House Report Exposes Trump's Efforts To Politicize The CDC COVID-19 Guidance